A New Enemy Arising: The Cave of Dreams
by PurpleRose328
Summary: Charisse Aguiluz was just an ordinary girl, with a normal life and friends- at least, she thought. But when a griffin suddenly attacked her and her 'friends' were not as they really seem to be, things were in an unexpected turn. Sequel to A Walk to Manhattan. Full summary inside. I promise the next chapters are better! :)
1. Not So Ordinary Life

**Author's Note:  
>Hello! So I'm currently rewriting this and I'm sorry if some things are confusing you! I promise to fix it as soon as I can! <strong>

**And thank you very much for reading my story! This is the sequel series for my story "A Walk On Manhattan"! Don't worry! You don't have to read it to understand this! I'll give you some guidelines on the bottom A/N (Just in case you haven't read AWOM yet). Enjoy!**

**Full Summary:**

**Charisse Aguiluz is just an ordinary girl, with a normal life and friends- at least that's what she knows. But when a griffin suddenly attacked her and her 'friends' were not as they seemed to be, things are in an unexpected turn. Sequel to A Walk to Manhattan.**

**Charisse didn't remember anything from the past four and six months of her life. After the initial shock of waking up in a hospital with almost her whole body bandaged, finding a mysterious red mobile and being nursed back to health for one month by Will and her mom- she continued living a completely ordinary life back on track. Go to school, hang out with her best friends, and hiding these new feelings towards Will. **

**But she always felt this unshakeable feeling like something was missing on her life. Something she couldn't put a finger into. Despite her smartness, she couldn't determine what it is. There was this voice on the back of her head, speaking to her. **

**Then suddenly she was accused of stealing something she doesn't even know! A griffin suddenly attacked her and her friends and she learned that things weren't normal as she thought it was. And she had no right to call herself 'normal' once again. **

**Charisse, then, crosses path with the gorgeous god of messengers, whom she feels like a mesmering connection to. He seems to hold all of the answers in her mind about the emptiness she felt… and her heart. Every time she spent with him grew more and more intense to her that her feelings for Will must had been an illusion until she realizes she was falling in love again but… why does it feel like it already happened before? Could she be failing in love with the same person once again? **

**Follow Charisse as she uncovers the truth about her past, handle the suddenly unexpected turn of her life, falling in love and have a quest to retrieve something she was accused stealing of with our favourite heroes and new ones to help her. **

**Dedicated to: paperstars03081997, my beloved twin and Chinese girl 50, my BFFE always! **

**Disclaimer: Don't own anything!**

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><p><em>For my mom who helped me a lot.<em>

_For Hermes Salazar Snape for being a great beta-reader and Charmes fan._

_For Charmes4ever and her group for being the number 1 reader of Charmes._

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><p><strong>Prologue<strong>

_Charisse Aguiluz was laid on the floor. She felt her breathing rise and fall. She looked around and her eyes landed on her comrades. Like her, they were also laid on the floor, barely breathing. They got so many cut, bruises and blood gushes everywhere. She looked deep into their faces and saw something she doesn't want to see. Losing hope. They were losing hope. No, they shouldn't._

_Charisse mouthed to the one nearest to her, which was Sabina, "We shouldn't give up!"_

_Sabina sadly shook her head and mouthed back," Charisse, we can't do anything. We lose."_

_Sabina's words rang in Charisse's mind. They lose! But, they shouldn't! They can't! Charisse still needs her memory. She needs to remember everything they took from her!_

_Charisse slowly stood up. She felt excruciating pain but continued. She shouldn't give up. Not at a desperate time like this! They were one more step closer and she'll get everything she needs to remember! Her life from the past four years and six months!_

_Just when she was almost there, she fell again. Hard. She cried in agony._

"_Fool!" A deep voice said and laughed," Can't you see? You lose! You won't get these! Everyone already lose hope, except you! You'll rise up again!"_

"_No," Charisse said but it came out like a whisper._

"_What?" the deep voice asked, obviously mocking her._

"_No." Charisse said louder._

"_What's that again?" the deep voice asked again._

"_NO! I SAID NO!" Charisse shouted and forced herself to stand up even if there was something like barrier stopping her. It shattered into thousand pieces of shards of glass and t__he man looked taken a back as if wondering how she could still stand up._

"_WE CAN'T LOSE! EVERYONE, LISTEN! WE'RE ONE MORE STEP AND WE'LL GET WHAT WE WANTED! WE EXPERIENCED A LOT OF THINGS JUST TO GET WHERE WE ARE RIGHT NOW! COME ON GUYS! THE THINGS WE WANTED IS ALREADY THERE IN FRONT OF US! WE CAN'T JUST GIVE UP!" Charisse encouraged looking at everyone around her._

_She expected everyone to stand up, fight the barrier and help her, but no one did._

"_Charisse, stop being so stubborn. We already lose." It was Xierra who spoke._

_Charisse got shocked. No… They shouldn't be. _

_She got so distracted; a jet of green light hit her square on the chest and was thrown on the farthest rocky wall. She screamed in agony._

_In a blink of an eye, the enemy was already there in front of her. His sword drawn and was pointing directly on Charisse neck._

"_I'll kill you first!" he bellowed and laughed._

_Charisse closed her eyes and prepared for her death._

_But then, before her assailant could strike her, a blinding white light appeared._

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><p><strong>Chapter 1- Not so ordinary life<strong>

**FIVE DAYS EARLIER…**

She was thinking. Charisse kept thinking of her dream. Sands were everywhere… There was a man burning and cursing her… A blinding white light… And lastly, a man with curly black hair who gave her a red phone… Charisse's hand suddenly went on her pocket where the red mobile was always kept. Until now, she couldn't believe that her dream would or _was _actually true. It just seemed… impossible.

She looked at Janie and Xierra who were few inches behind her. They seemed perfectly fine. In her dream, they were screaming in agony. Janie and Xierra smiled when they caught her looking at them. But then their eyes widened in bewilderment and made signs frantically. Charisse just raised an eyebrow in confusion and suddenly felt force knocked the breath out of her. A volleyball hit her. She fell on the gym floor with a loud thud. Jeez, she could give you fifty reasons why she really disliked sports. Mrs. Serrano, the gym teacher whistled, halting the game and everyone rushed at her side.

"Jeez, Char. You know what? You should put a sign beside you with 'Accident prone area' written on it!" Renz, one of Charisse's classmates joked. Everyone laughed at the corny joke but the girl just said,"Thank you very much" matching with deep sarcasm that made everyone laughed once again. Sarcasm was popular on their place, almost everyone had that.

"Are you alright?" Will asked as he took her hand.

Charisse felt her breath knocked away from her once again. She got this _huge _crush on Will ever since she woke up on a hospital that day. He help nursed her back to health and until she was able to walk again which took a good one month. But during that thirty days, she had a lot of fun. Janie and Xierra frequently visited her. Her mom also stayed in the hospital during the night. And in the morning, William will come. Chat, Charisse's mother, will sleep while Will took care of her. Those four weeks were one of the best weeks of her life!

"Char?" Will asked waking Charisse from her trance and the girl, in turn sat up.

"Don't worry, I'm fine!" She stood up normally as she assured everyone," See?"

Mrs. Serrano nodded and whistled again. The game resumed.

Charisse, Janie, Xierra and the other girls sat back on the classy black bleachers watching the boys play Volleyball. Charisse watched Will dreamily as he blocked the attack from the opponent. She watched as Will's black hair moved gracefully as he served the ball. Beads of sweat tracked down on the side of his face which seemed to be sparkling and Charisse couldn't help but stare. His jersey with "Hanson" and the number "03" at the back was wet because of sweat, but it made him cuter.

Xierra looked at Janie and giggled slightly before snapping in front of Charisse's surprise face. She woke up and glared at her two best friends. "What?"

Xierra giggled and put strands of her Korean cut black hair behind her ear. Janie didn't look happy. "You're staring," the girl pointed out.

Charisse sighed. A few days after she was hospitalized, she went back to school and told her two best friends about this _huge _crush she had on Will. Xierra squealed but Janie sighed and shook her head in disappointment muttering," _He_ wouldn't be happy about this."

One time, when Charisse was in one of the cubicles of their wide ladies' room, she heard footsteps. She looked down and saw the shoes of Xierra and Janie. They were talking. Charisse pressed her ear on the cubicle door, eavesdropping.

"Xierra, this is _not_ good!" Janie exclaimed frantically.

"Why? They're _so_ cute together! Besides, we don't know when we will be back at camp! Or see _him _again!" Xierra defended and added," Besides _he _would be very busy with his booming business!"

Charisse heard Janie sighed. "But, Xierra, she belongs to _him_. Not to Will! It's what they call destiny." Janie said.

Charisse got shocked. She doesn't belong to Will? Anger surged inside her. Why did Janie say that? Who is _him_, anyway? Besides, Charisse had heard from other girls that Will seemed to like her too. Before the eavesdropper knew it, the cubicle's door opened revealing a mad Janie and Xierra. Both of the hands were on their hips and their lips were on a tight hard line.

Charisse looked up and smiled innocently. "Hello!" she greeted hoping her act will work.

Janie glared. "You heard us didn't you?"

"What are you talking about?" Charisse asked trying to be innocent as much as possible.

"Look, Char. We know that you're eavesdropping." Xierra explained.  
>Charisse sighed and put her hands up in surrender at that time.<p>

"So what?" Charisse snapped at Janie. "So what I'm staring? I like Will!"

Janie sighed, rolling her eyes. "Whatever." She wasn't usually like that. She was _only _like that when Charisse said anything about romance on Will. She wished she was supportive like Xierra.

After the game…

Will approached Charisse.

"Nice game," Charisse smiled.

He smiled back. "Thanks. Come on, let's go home!"

Charisse nodded and together with Will, they walked home. Janie and Xierra were trailing behind them, whispering.

Will lived just a few block from Charisse's that was why they always walk to home and school together. That also applied to Janie and Xierra.

"So, does anyone of you know our assignment in English?" Xierra asked.

"What? About _The Ramayana_*****?" Charisse asked. "It's just simple you know." She continued.

"I agree with Char," Janie said. "It's just simple Xierra!"

Xierra frowned. "Well, I'm sorry that I'm not mythology fanatics like the two of you!" Charisse and Janie just laughed.

And then, suddenly, something appeared out of nowhere and tackled Charisse to the ground.

"Charisse!" It came out as a shout on the mouth of her two best friends.

Charisse saw her attacker. It looked like a bull with sharp teeth and glowing red eyes. She turned her head to the side as saliva flowed down in its mouth and up to her clothes. "Gross," she thought. "What's with these things? Since when did bulls attacked people? Since _w_hen did bulls appear here in the Philippines? FYI, we got no bulls here!"

And suddenly it bit her on her left arm. Charisse screamed in agony as scarlet blood flowed helplessly. She didn't know why, but it seemed something like this already happened before. She couldn't figure out when.

"WILL!" Charisse screamed.

Will composed his self and grabbed his sky blue baller. He tossed it and it turned into a bronze sword. Charisse forgot the pain as she stared amazed on the sword that gleamed on the late sunlight. Totally forgetting the pain on her left arm, she stared in awe as Will fought the hellhound. And the guy won as her attacker turned to dust and the winds blew it away. He helped her up and tended the wounds, applying some first aid.

"Oh gosh! I'm going crazy. Crazy over a guy," Charisse thought. "This is not good."

"It is my dear. This'll spice up the love story!" a high-pitched girly voice said in Charisse's mind. The girl took a deep breath. _Breathe. Relax. _She was already used to different voices talking in her mind, speaking to her.

One time when she was walking on her way to her house, it was night and a cold night breeze brushed on her body and the girl shivered. She went to the store to buy some materials for her project when she noticed there were some bystanders, gambling a few feet in front of her. She continued walking and when she was almost near, a quite deep voice suddenly said in her mind, _Stop! Don't go near them! Camouflage yourself on the darkness surrounding you. _

__Charisse gasped silently. Did _someone_ just talk in her mind? But still, she followed being the obedient girl she was and camouflaged herself. It was a good thing she was wearing dark clothes and her ultra black hair and light brown skin helping. She passed freely without those bulky guys and when she was sure she was safe, briskly walked towards her home.

And now, she was hearing one of them again. But, this voice speaking in her head was a sound of a girl, not a guy like she usually hear. She shook the thought out off her mind and calmed herself.

"Wait, what is that? Is that a hellhound from Greek mythology?" Charisse asked. Everyone replied her question with silence.

"What?" Charisse asked noticing the sudden stillness," Did I say something wrong?"

Xierra and Janie started whispering once again without thinking that there were other people who would like to know what they were talking about while Will stayed silent, suddenly having a newfound interests on his Nike blue shoes.

"WHAT'S GOING ON?" Charisse asked irritably. She wanted to know everything! It looked like they were hiding something from her! And for the fact, Xierra and Janie were murmuring something to each other in low hushed voices doesn't help either.

"Xierra, Will. I think it's time." Janie said after she murmured something in Xierra's ear.

"B-But-" Will stammered looking uncomfortable, it was obvious he doesn't like the idea. Xierra interrupted him," Will, we don't have a choice. It'll be Char's decision if she chooses..." She stopped short remembering the person in concern was behind her. She slapped a hand on her mouth muttering about having a big mouth.

"Choose who?" Charisse asked. "Xierra, Janie, Will. What's going on? Will someone please tell me?"

Before any of them could answer, a flying monster attacked them. What was worse? It was heading directly to the wounded Charisse.

"Where is it?" the griffin said.

"Since when did griffins speak?" Charisse asked to no one in particular at all. It was a rhetorical question. Everyone was too shocked to even speak. "Where is what?" She asked once again but this time to the griffin, totally confused.

"Don't act innocent, child," the griffin hissed, his eagle brown eyes glaring at her.

"Stop!" Xierra exclaimed to the protector. She was already aware that her father sent this griffin. "She doesn't know or remember anything!

Charisse took a step back in fear. What was going on? What were they talking about? Where was what? Why were they demanding it to her? She was just a mere high school girl!

Then, suddenly, Will hugged her protectively and pointed his sword to the griffin.

"Give her to me," the griffin commanded. "I'm doing this for Lord Zeus. He needs this girl." It pointed one of its sharp talons to Charisse who cowered back in fear.

"I don't care! You'll get her over my dead body!" Will said bravely as he swung his sword around it.

Charisse blushed at the embrace. Well, he was her knight in shining armour, she guessed. She hugged him back trying to savour each moment. This could only happen once in a lifetime! So why not make the best out of it? But then she stopped. It was such a stupid thing to do! What was happening to her? She wasn't like this! Was it got something to do with the girlish voice that spoke in her mind earlier?

The griffin growled and lunged at Will. He pushed Charisse out of the way as he battled his new opponent. Both of them were skilled. Charisse didn't remember that Will knew how to use a sword. Will's sword flew away from his grasp and the beast tackled him to the ground. It smiled triumphantly showing sharp teeth.

"You said over your dead body boy, so be it," it said and bit Will on his right shoulder. Will screamed in pain as the griffin prepares for another tasteful bite.

Charisse freaked out. What should she do? She didn't have any weapon at all! How could she help Will? She looked around just in case to help Will. But then her phone beeped. Who might be sending her a message at an urgent time like this? Charisse wondered but checked it out. The message said: "Stretch out the antenna and say these '_Strofi se ena xifos__******__._' Don't be surprised if you'll see two intertwined green snakes. When it turns into a sword, use it to stab the griffin. Good luck!"

Charisse got surprised. Who was this? She checked the sender: _Unknown number. _Who could it be? She did what was told and two green snakes intertwined to each other appeared.

_Jeez, I want to eat rats badly!_A boyish voice said.

_Shut up, George! I'm hungry too!_A girlish voice said.

_Martha! You know that I always have an appetite!_The boy, who must be George, said.

Charisse freaked out once again and quickly said_," Strofi se ena xifos_!"

The red phone turned into a golden sword. Charisse stared in awe. "Amazing," she breathed out.

"CHARISSE!" Will exclaimed alarmingly. Oh yeah! She forgot about him.

Charisse took a deep breath. She needed to save Will. She had to. Like he always did to her. She should return the favor right? Since she owed him. With trembling hands, she lunged at the griffin and stabbed it on its back. It instantly turned to dust with little contact on the sword. She was about to help Will when her left arm stung. Oh yeah! She still had that bite from the hellhound. She fell on the floor as she gripped her left arm and screamed in agony. Black spots started to appear in her vision.

Xierra freaked out. "Janie! We should give her nectar!"

Janie nodded and forced Charisse to drink something. It tasted like an ice tea. She instantly felt better but was still fighting to stay conscious.

"Janie! We really need to bring both of them to the camp infirmary!" Xierra exclaimed again.

"I'm on it!" Janie said and turned to look at Charisse. "Sleep tight!" she said before Charisse totally lost consciousness.

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><p><strong>*The Ramayana is one of the two great Indian epics (the other one being Mahabharata). It is about the reincarnation of the creator god Vishnu in the person of Rama, who is the hero of the epic. An Indian epic about courage, love, loyalty, betrayal and fairness. <strong>

****Turn into a sword**

**Here are some guidelines:**

**Charisse Aguiluz- a simple fourteen year old Filipina who never gives up. She got ultra black hair, dark brown eyes and light brown skin. Her hair was straight and layered up to her mid-back and wore purple trimmed glasses. The main protagonist of the story. In AWOM, she's in love to Hermes after the god saved her. But, at the end of the story, she lost her memory thus, having a huge crush on Will, Hermes' rival and son.**

**Hermes- the Greek god of messengers, travellers, thieves, sports, slyness etc. In chapter 1 of AWOM, he saved Charisse from 9 hellhounds calling her "Demigod" and "Blood of the pharaoh". In chapter 3, he met her again in a bookstore in a particular mall in the Philippines. He didn't have a chance to have proper conversation with her. In chapter 10, he showed Charisse some glimpses of the future. And lastly, in chapter 11, he saved her again and gave her his caduceus for her own protection. It is unknown if Hermes also like Charisse. But some says he does.**

**William "Will" Leon Hanson- a fourteen year old Filipino, son of Hermes.****He's described as annoying yet funny classmate and since childhood rival of Charisse. He loves to tease and bully Charisse. And to the eyes of the girls (except for Charisse and a few chosen people) he looked cool. He was cute or handsome with his quite tousled black hair, almost pale complexion, brown eyes always with the hint of slyness and loves to grin. After AWOM, he eventually changed into a nice guy to Charisse.**

**Xierra Nicka Fermin- the 14-year-old best friend of Charisse. She got flowing black hair and brown eyes. Her skin is almost white. Many people almost often mistook them as sisters. She's in love with Apollo saying "He's hot" and many other compliments. She's a daughter of Zeus.**

**Janice Diana Malloy- a twelve year old best friend of Charisse. She was Spanish and lived in Venezuela before transferring to Philippines to have a one year vacation on Philippines. She transferred to Xierra and Charisse's school last January. She got reddish-brown hair, tanned skin and kaleidoscope eyes. Sometimes it's blue. Sometimes, gray. She got a crush on Poseidon.**

**Sabina Li- I won't give much information towards her since she's a new character and will appear in this story later on. But I will tell you. She'll become the BFF of Charisse.**

**Renz- a very minor character. He's a classmate of Charisse and is always hilarious though sometimes his jokes are… corny and insulting.**

**Mrs. Serrano- the PE teacher of Charisse and Will. A very minor character.**


	2. Camp Half-Blood

**Author's Note:**

**HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE! I published this at exactly 12:00 am in my time!**

**Warning: A totally boring chapter! For haters, DON'T READ!**

**Disclaimer: Don't own anything!**

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><p><strong>Chapter 2- Camp Half-Blood<strong>

She saw herself, comfortably laid back on a soft, linen covered bed. The moment she woke up, she saw a boy, the same age as hers with brownish-blond hair, bangs that sometimes get in his light blue eyes and tanned skin. He approached her and then tended the injured girl's wounded left arm. With a lot of effort, Charisse bit her lip trying to resist the pain.

"Keep still," he ordered and she followed.

He started saying something. The quite chubby tween realized it was Ancient Greek! And… she could understand it?

When he was done, Charisse gazed at her left arm again. The deep wound was gone!

"Amazing," She stared on her arm in awe. "Gee, thanks a lot!"

"No prob. It's my job as an Apollo kid," the guy replied in a quite deep voice and stretched out his hand. "I'm Matthew John White. Just call me Matt."

She shook his outstretched hand and said," Charisse Aguiluz, a newbie."

He looked taken aback at first but quickly composed himself like he remembered something. The Filipina raised an eyebrow but he just shrugged. Matt gave her a small glass of lemonade and a plate of freshly-baked brownies. She didn't know why, but it was like this already happened before. This Matt guy, the lemonade and brownies…

She grabbed one brownie and smelled the freshly-baked scent. It smelled so good! She took one bite, and savoured its sweet chocolate flavour. The peanut toppings added flavour on the tasty brownie!

Charisse drank half of the lemonade and asked," What are these? They're so delicious!"

"Ambrosia and nectar," Matt said, still feeling uncomfortable.

What's wrong with him? Earlier, he was nice but now, he's acting weird. Strange…

Matt stopped her when she tried to grab another brownie.

"If you eat too much Ambrosia or drink too much Nectar, you'll burn to death," he warned, as his light blue eyes narrowed and that expression made Charisse drop the brownie.

She just nodded and sat up on the bed.

"I love the new feeling! I felt like I'm the strongest girl in the world!" Charisse thought," But that's exaggerating."

"Can I go now?" Charisse asked.

"Sure. You can go now. But, go to the big house first," Matt commanded and was about to speak more when someone called him.

"Coming!" Matt answered and left Charisse alone.

She stood up and went outside. She was greeted by a very lively environment and fresh air met her nose. It's a great scent. Like the scent back home… Charisse continued walking around and encountered girls and boys in different ages wearing orange-coloured t-shirts. She could already guess this is a great camp!

She continued walking around and saw some girls and boys fighting in an arena, climbing a volcano with lava flowing (Maybe they want to die early), canoeing in the lake and doing different hobbies and activities.

And then, she caught the scent of the sea. Sea! Since Charisse was young, she dearly loves the sea! She love the sea scented air, the sound of waves crashing on the sand, the rough texture of the sand and the sound of the sea gulls flying around!

She quickly ran to the far right end of the beach. In the side was a big rock full of seaweed. Charisse sat in front of it and rested her back at the hard rock. She felt the tips of the water tickled her feet as they reached the shore. She was so relaxed that she went to sleep right on the spot.

But that didn't last long when someone called her name. She stirred and opened her eyes. She caught sight of black hair. Black hair! She woke up and saw Will sighing in relief.

"I've been looking for you! Come on, we should go up the valley!" Will looked excited as he dragged Charisse out of the sea.

The road to the top of the mountain peak was rough and rocky. They needed to climb to make it more adventurous. When they reached the top, the sun was already setting and the two teenagers were sweating.

"I hate sports!" Charisse whined and sat on the dusty ground.  
>"Come on! I'll tell you which is which!" Will said and helped her up.<p>

"That is where the cabins are. If you'll notice, they're formed in a 'U' shape just like the gods' thrones up in Mt. Olympus," Will said pointing to the twelve cabins. "There is where you'll find the minor cabins."

"Earlier, you've been on the sea where the Poseidon cabin is located," Will continued and telling her various parts of Camp Half-Blood. He explained that Greek demigods come here to train to fight the monsters in the mortal world. There is also another camp but it's exclusive for Romans only.

"Say, Will. You said you've been on the Roman camp. Which do you prefer? Camp Half-Blood or Camp Jupiter?" Charisse asked inquisitively.

Will thought for awhile and looked at Charisse. He said," Roman camp is cool and awesome but I don't like it that much. I still prefer Camp Half-Blood because the feeling and scent of home is here." He looked in front of him, his mind drifting away to another world.

Charisse just stared at him and followed his gaze. There were a flock of geese flying in V form. In the distance, they looked like black flying creatures because of the light casting from the sun, thus, making a shadow. But, it still looked so mesmerizing seeing how those birds stayed together forever.

After watching the wedge or skein flew passed by, Will nudged the girl beside him.

"It's almost night time. Let's go to the dining pavilion," Will told her. Charisse just nodded and let Will dragged her to their next destination.

When they got to the entrance, gasps filled the air. Seriously, what was wrong with them? Is there something 'surprising'? Charisse thought to herself. They were even greeted by suspicious, confused and bewildered looks from everyone in the room.

She ignored them all and followed Will to the Hermes' table.

"Uh, are you sure I'll eat here? I mean, isn't it this table is only for Hermes' kids?" Charisse asked feeling uncomfortable sitting in a place she wasn't supposed to be.

"Look, all of the undetermined children go to us. Since you're not yet determine, you can sit here," a guy with curly brown hair and mischievous blue eyes said.

The boy looked… familiar to the eyes of Charisse. It was like she'd seen him before.

The guy grabbed an orange-flavoured candy and gave it to her. As Charisse's touch felt the oblong shaped candy, her mind reacted and screamed at her," DON'T EAT IT! DON'T EAT IT!" She just put the candy to her pocket and sat beside a midget girl with brownish blond hair and brown eyes.

"Hi?" Charisse asked.

"Hello," the girl around 5 feet said. Boredom could be heard in her voice.

"I'm Charisse," Charisse introduced herself.

"I know," the girl said simply as she twirled the spoon on her right palm.

"You do?"

"Yeah. You're famous around here. The girl who just went missing for third days underwater. The girl who just went back to her home country and defeating an enemy." The girl said," I'm Maoriz Gaza, btw. You can call me 'Mao' for short."

Charisse got surprised. She was famous? And did Mao just say she went missing for third days underwater and went back to Philippines defeating an enemy. Charisse's head started to spin. It was like something is trying to get into her brain. "_Remember, please_." A voice suddenly said. _"I-I can't._" She thought back.

She opened her eyes again to see everything's normal. No one must've noticed.

"Ice tea," she murmured to an empty glass. Earlier, Will told her she just need to tell the empty glass which drink she wanted. They started eating and she devoured the steak ravenously. She was always like this when she was eating. Especially if it was her favorite foods! Before she was able to eat the other half of the steak, Mao stopped her. Charisse looked up and saw everyone was standing. Why were they standing?

"Offering time," Mao said and the undetermined girl followed Mao's example.

When it was her time to offer, she gulped. To whom does she need to offer? She doesn't know.

"_To whoever deity out there, I just want to know the truth. Why is it, I feel like my life is incomplete. Like there is a tiny detail I can't remember. Please help me." _Charisse thought and threw the steak on the burning fire before going back to her seat. The air suddenly smelled of an expensive perfume.

After the offering, everyone left the pavilion to the camp fire. Charisse went with Mao to the camp fire. While everyone was having a sing-along with the Apollo cabin, the newly found friendship were talking.

"Hey, Mao, you said only demigods get pass in this camp," Charisse said and asked. "Does it mean I'm a demigod too?"

Mao laughed staying as silent as possible. "Of course!"

"Then, who is my parent?" Charisse asked. Then something happened after she asked Mao that question. It all happened so fast.

"Hail, Charisse Aguiluz, daughter of Poseidon," Chiron announced and everyone took a small bow. And then, lightning flashed everywhere. Thunder boomed. Everyone panicked. She just sat there, still shocked by the sudden upturn of events.

"Char! Come on!" Mao urged her to go but she couldn't move. Lightning flashed almost hitting Charisse not until Mao pulled her. "Char! WAKE UP!" Mao shouted. Charisse could hear her. But, she couldn't move! Like, something was forcing her to sit wherever she was. Like she was waiting for the lightning to strike her.

Mao called for Will and he came to her aid. They touched Charisse together but suddenly got burn marks. "What the-" Mao said but was interrupted when Charisse was struck by the lightning.

The last thing she saw was, Charisse electrified falling on the ground with a loud "Thud!" and someone screaming. Mao just realized the scream was coming out of her mouth.

_Charisse opened her eyes. She instantly stood up and observed her surroundings. The room where she was in was dark. Everywhere she looked, ebony black things gazed back at her. In the far end was a floor to ceiling window. Pale moonlight shone in its clear glass. Charisse realized it was the only source of light in the room. A cold damp breeze blew and Charisse shivered and felt the hairs on her neck and arms stood up. She hated this place. She feared spirits, ghosts and most especially, darkness. _

_When she was still a child, she accidentally watched a really horrifying scary movie. It scared her to death that she couldn't sleep for a day! Whenever she closed her eyes, horrible scenes looked back at her, making her wake up and scream. But after one day, when she tried to sleep again, instead of the usual ghastly memories from the movie, a very handsome man showed in front of her. Charisse's child and youthful eyes could only see strands of black hair on his head. He suddenly spoke in a quite deep voice," Don't worry. I'll protect you." And ever since that strange dream, young Charisse never had nightmares until now. That's why she always had a 'thing' for black-haired guys, in hope she could find whoever saved her. Which is not turning out well since everyone in the Philippines is black haired. Even if she was already healed, her fear of darkness, ghosts and spirits still stayed in her mind. It just stayed inside her like it was carved in her heart. _

_And right now, she could feel the familiar tingle of fear she had when she was five years old. _

"_Oh gosh, where the heck am I? What am I doing here?" Charisse asked to no one in particular at all. Her nervous voice echoed around the room. _

"_Hello?" she tried again. She kept talking to forget her nervousness and she learned that spirits hates noise and sounds._

_The girl sat on the wooden floor, bored. But then suddenly, a beautiful woman appeared in front of her. Charisse couldn't distinguish some of her godly features but you can see that she has lovely rosy cheeks. Her mythology instincts reacted. _

"_Lady Themis?" Charisse asked to the approaching goddess._

"_Yes, Charisse. I am." Lady Themis said as she sat beside her. _

"_W-What are you doing in such a place like this?" Charisse asked as she looked around the creepy room once again. _

"_Very straightforward," Themis complimented and stood up. She brushed her soft delicate hands to the cold marble walls of the room. She said sadly," I'm imprisoned in here for I offered Hera a cup even if Zeus forbids me to."_

_Charisse could feel the sadness in the titan's voice. She stood up. "That's not fair! It doesn't mean that you're a Titan, you have hidden agenda!" _

_Themis approached the girl once again and put a hand on her shoulder. "Charisse, life is unfair. Fairness doesn't mean you get what you want but by getting what you need. Always keep that in mind." _

_Charisse nodded and asked," What am I doing in here?" _

"_I just want to warn you about what's going to happen sooner," Themis said and continued. "You'll face hardships and sacrifices along the way. You'll get betrayed, accused, maltreated, back-stab and many more. You'll see so many unexpected things that are hard to take in. But always remember, Aphrodite is a sweet and nice girl. But she can also be very evil once you've gotten into her bad side. Unfortunately, you're already in her bad side. Just remember, love conquers all. You can prove that even if you're different from the one you love, true love is possible. And, even if how many times she meddles in, you'll always find yourself on the way back home. Charisse, prove to Aphrodite, you can be with the most you loved even if you're complete opposites and completely out of each other's league. And I hope, you can show her, what true love really is."_

_Charisse nodded and smiled. "Thanks, Themis."_

"_Oh and one last thing," Themis said. "When you wake up, some things will happen. I wish you luck, daughter of Poseidon. See you soon."_

_Before Charisse could reply, she felt force knocked the breath out of her and she fell unconscious again._

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><p><strong>I'm so sorry if there are still mistakes! R&amp;R! <strong>


	3. For The First Time

**Author's Note:  
>Thank you so much guys! I can't believe I'll receive 25 reviews in just two chapters! And thank you for waiting patiently! <strong>

**And to make up for my very **_**very **_**late updating, this chapter is an extra/special one! This happened during **_**A Walk to Manhattan**_** Chapter 1. And I'm currently rewriting it! :)**

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything! **

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><p><strong>Hermes's POV when he first met Charisse<strong>

**For the First Time**

"Hello, this is Hermes Express. May I help you?" It came out of his mouth in a moderate, friendly way in order to treat his customers nicely and these nine words were now too familiar. He always says this whenever he gets a call to deliver letters, messages, packages and many more. Not only for the Olympians, other deities and also a few demigods. After all, he's the god of business, so, it wasn't surprising that his business was booming.

"I need you to deliver my H. Couture Beauty Mascara and Lipstick right now," Aphrodite's panic voice rang on the other end, asking him to deliver yet _another _expensive beauty product of hers. "I'm currently having a shortage of beauty mascara and lipstick and I _can't _go out of my house without applying some of it!" _As if, how important are those makeup anyway? _

"Ok," Hermes said, pushing aside his thoughts and added. "That'll cause more than the usual price if you want it to be delivered right now." His mouth went up; this was what he loves about this business, bargaining things.

He heard Aphrodite sighed on the other end. "Alright," Aphrodite finally said after a few seconds. "I'll pay up." The bargainer grinned and said," Coming right up!" before disappearing to deliver the needed makeup.

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><p>Stars shining like diamonds on the sky, the waves crashing on the sandy beach, sea breezes filling his lungs... these were few of the things Hermes loved about strolling on the Long Island Beach late at night. Eventually, it was his only free time after a day's work. He couldn't find any time to continue and decided that he'll visit the beach when he could find time.<p>

Looking up the sky, he saw different constellations like Orion, Artemis's former lover, Hercules, Big Dipper, and many others. He loved to do it in his free time. It relaxes his mind. Imagine being stressed everyday by receiving more than 1,000 emails every day asking you to deliver this and that? It was very exhausting, but it was his only way for living and to catch up with the fast paced civilization of the twenty first century thanks to his proudest invention, the Internet.

Hermes knew them all. Starting with Apple, Samsung up to Cherry mobile and the most expensive to cheapest phones, he knew how they were made- how they could help. Out of all the brands, Apple was one of the best but not until Samsung innovated their idea. Glancing at his red mobile waiting for another call/delivery, he remembered that his first phone was the iPhone. He enjoyed it, especially the games like Tap Tap Revenge which entertained him a lot. But still, the Samsung Galaxy Se was better but had a few disadvantages like being slow and it only have a 4GB internal memory!Hermes wanted to download every application he found on the "Top Grossing" list on the Android Market! He then checked out iPhone 3 and again was still missing something. So he kept switching from Apple to Samsung and uptil now, still didn't know which brand was better.

He looked at his current phone, a red Samsung Galaxy S3 phone. He also had an iPhone 5 back at home and was using it for entertainment and other purposes. Now, this was what he loves on having some connections on the two companies. Whenever they have a new product to be released, he was one of the first people who'll be able to buy it and check it out.

Five minutes passed by and he hadn't received any call, email or message. Good. He could enjoy another minute of strolling around the beach. Unfortunately, that didn't last long. A new call came; it was from his 'big bro' asking him to deliver a particular highly dangerous to one of his sons on the military on Asia. He sighed and talked Ares when he would want his son to receive the package. While talking, he saw a shadow of a girl on the distance. He pondered, _what's she doing here? It's already late at night. _He caught sight of ultra black hair that perfectly camouflaged her on the darkness surrounding her. He ignored her for awhile and answered to Ares that he'll deliver it tomorrow. Ares being impatient and had anger issues told him he'll pay him twice the amount if he was going to deliver it now. Hermes wished he could stroll more but bulks of drachmas were waiting for him and he left.

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><p>He went back on the beach and turned off his phone. Couldn't they give him some peace time?<p>

He was on the far right end of the beach, leaning against a big boulder ignoring the fact that it was decorated with seaweed and smelt like one, when he heard running. Then he heard eight pairs of hooves running after it. He ran and was curious to know what was happening. He saw a figure of a quite chubby girl, lying on the sand. She was still breathing, but it was shallow. Blood poured profusely on her left leg. It looked like she was bitten by a monster. He looked on the left and saw eight hellhounds coming. Ah, that was how she got that bite and why she was running.

He approached her and instantly knew her. She was the girl he saw earlier while talking to Ares! And thanks to his connections, he could also know a few things from the other worlds and he could tell this girl was from the Egyptian one. He remembered Thoth, the Egyptian god of knowledge told him about blood of the pharaohs and he instantly concluded they were like demigods in a _different _way. It was interesting.

He took her right wrist and was looking for a pulse. There, he found it. She was still alive and… wait! She also had a demigod blood pouring in her veins. Ah, she was a unique one.

The girl opened her eyes and saw dark brown eyes staring back at him. He saw his reflection on them. He expected to see his mortal form: New York City Marathon T-shirt (one of his prizes for winning a marathon), nylon running shorts, late twenties look and looked like a runner at the same time delivery man, though he preferred to call it messenger. But, he saw a too familiar reflection. It was his godly form. How the girl could see it? He doesn't have any clue but she should be dead by now for seeing it. Weird… Maybe it had something to do with the Egyptian blood pumping in her veins. Hermes took a mental note to visit Thoth to ask a few things and hoped the god will answer them without something in exchange, though they were easy to get especially barbecues. And the Greek god was very aware that every time he visits, Thoth wasn't pleased and he already knew he annoyed the Egyptian god. And another fact that the Ancient Egyptians named Thoth's city, _Hermopolis _for they thought he and the Egyptian deity were similar! Hermes laughed at the memory. He should _really _be the Greek god of wisdom then!

"Help," the girl croaked and Hermes could tell she was slipping between consciousnesses.

"I'll help you," Hermes said and added. "Demigod or should I say blood of the pharaoh?"

He could tell the girl got surprised but he turned his attention to the coming of the monsters following her. The eight hellhounds stopped at the sight of him. They appeared to be strong, mighty and deadly but when they saw the god, almost all of them cowered in fear. Too simple. With a swift of hand, they turned to dust.

When he looked back at the girl, she was already unconscious and he applied first aid. After applying, he studied her for awhile. She looked peaceful, her hand calmly resting on her stomach, and now that the blood stopped, she just looked like sleeping or what was her name again? Ah, Aurora, the Sleeping Beauty who slept for a hundred years waiting for her prince. This girl looked like her, except the hair and the size. She looked attractive except for the 'quite chubby' part. Maybe she should engage with sports. But, she looked like fourteen; she must be too young to even care about losing some weight. Besides, she looked like someone who doesn't even care what she looked like.

He carried her bridal style and decided he should bring her back home to Brooklyn to the Mansion.

Remembering what Thoth told him about a water elementalist girl with the name of Charisse Aguiluz and describing her, Hermes suddenly realized she was the blood of the pharaoh who defeated Plem, the Egyptian goddess of blue flames and hallucinations **(A/N: That's on A New Goddess Arising Trilogy.)**; but the god of wisdom had not mentioned the quality of stillness about her that made Hermes feel calm despite the exhaustion he felt on work, or the small smile that suddenly lit up her face, she must be dreaming a good dream. Staring at her small smile, he felt answering smile beginning on his own lips. For such a long time, he never felt how to smile for he always grin and a chosen people could only make him smile- his real smile. And now, he was glad he walked on the beach at 11: 30 pm, for the first time.

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><p><strong>I hope you like it! :) <strong>


	4. Have I Met You Before?

**Author's Notes:**

**I'm sorry for the really long hiatus. I've been busy with school stuff and can hardly find time. Projects in different subjects eat a lot of time too, especially the exams...**

**Anyway, I combined two chapters as a bonus that explains why it is so long.**

**Dedicated to: Chinese Girl 50, who first read this story. :)**

**Anonymous For Now: Sure, you can have a cookie my friend! :) *gives cookie* Lol, sorry about the blackouts/fainting and many more. I just unconsciously and unaware that every chapter ended that way. XD**

**Guest: Thank you so much! You're amazing! :)**

**Disclaimer: Don't own anything at all!**

**Chapter 3 – Have I met you before?**

_Apollo was humming a lively tune. He just toured around the home of country music- his new interest and heard this striking melody. First it was soft and then will rest for two beats. Then it will continue after a half rest and then will stop again. But at the third time, it will continue gradually from p (piano) to f (forte) as it gets louder and louder. And then, it'll be on decrescendo (descending from loud to soft) again. And then, it'll be in crescendo. The cycle went on and on and the ending was the god's favorite part. At the final part, the tune will be in forte and the last two notes will be on ritardando. Such a lively tune indeed! _**(A/N: Decrescendo, Crescendo, Forte, Piano and many more are all examples of Dynamics in Music. :) )**

_He went inside his cheery room filled with happy and vibrant colors- most of them were gold complimenting his golden hair locks. The clear glassy windows were floor to ceiling, catching most of the sun rays shining on Mount Olympus. A fine day, indeed!_

_He laid himself at his comfortable king-sized bed and rested his manly and muscular hands behind his head. Then, he suddenly yearned to play his ever favorite golden lyre made by his half brother, Hermes. He still remembered everything- how much both of them owed each other. No wonder they decided to be best friends._

_Feeling the smooth texture of his oak bedside table, his hand searched for the form of his lyre. But then, he realized it was missing. He shot upright and looked at the bedside table. It wasn't there! Oh the horror! He frantically searched for his beloved lyre. Where did he put it? Where could it be? And then, a possibility sank in his mind. Of course! If it was gone and missing, there was only one reason he could think of._

_Someone stole his lyre. And they were going to pay for it._

Xierra woke up in an instant. Her surroundings were very vague and blurry she couldn't identify where she was. Suddenly, her eyes finally adjusted with the sudden brightness and saw that she was in the infirmary. She sat up and instantly felt nausea.

She could still remember the dream she had. It was about Apollo losing his lyre. It was Xierra's first time to see her favorite sun god mad. And she doesn't like it. It was like she wanted to get up there, prepare to have a quest, find the lyre and safely return it.

After a few minutes, the dizziness passed away and Xierra saw she wasn't the only person in the infirmary. There were Sabina, Jason, Percy, Annabeth, Clarisse, Piper, Miranda Gardiner, Leo, Charisse, and Pollux. The clinic was filled with concerned people.

Reality sank in. Everyone who was in this room was all struck by the lightning and she was the first one to wake up.

The daughter of Zeus couldn't take the pain in her chest. Hoping the pain will pass away, she went outside the infirmary feeling the fresh air fill her lungs. Everything was silent and peaceful. Not until she heard many shouts, cheers and squeals. Curiosity took over her and she quickly went to the location of the big event.

There was a big mass of people. It was like, almost all of the campers were there, cheering- as if though they had seen Justin Bieber or One Direction. Xierra wanted to know what the commotion was, thus preparing herself. This was one of her specialties- barging in the crowd. She barged in the crowd earning some 'Heys!' but she didn't care. She was too curious to even do so.

Then finally, she reached the front and her eyes widened as wide as saucers and mouth in an 'O'. She couldn't believe it. The person in front of her was hotter than Justin Bieber himself and One Direction themselves. No wonder there was a big mass of people! Her favorite –and in love with- god was there, standing elegantly in front of her.

Xierra fainted because of the hotness.

**:O**

Apollo flashed charming smiles at everyone that surrounded him like an island surrounded by the ocean waters. He was already used to this kind of treatment. Whenever he went to camp and public places like malls, crowd always gathered around him like swarm of bees buzzing how gorgeous he looked. He would always run his hand through his halo of golden hair around his head and recite another haiku masterpiece, he himself wrote.

And now, here at this camp was no exception. Thanks to this, he almost forgot about his stolen lyre. Well, _almost._

"Apollo," someone said. He turned to the side and saw a messenger. He was no ordinary messenger though. He was Hermes, god of messengers, thieves, travelers, slyness, good fortune, luck, sports, speed, roads and business. "May I remind you again," he continued. "We're here at this camp for a specific reason-". Before he could continue, Apollo interrupted. "Did dad make you remind me again?"

Hermes nodded. Sometimes- no, all the time, Apollo was thankful he wasn't the official messenger of Mt. Olympus. First, he needed to go and deliver mountain ranges of letters, messages, packages and many other things Hermes wouldn't tell him. Second, you only have a few hours break. Third, after delivering everything for the day, you need to escort the souls to the Underworld. But a tiring task it might be, there were also a few advantages. Only he can go in and out of the Underworld, Mt. Olympus and Earth. When Zeus forbids interacting with mortals, only he can go. Well, they were just three of the few advantages. No wonder Hermes got many children. But, Apollo was proud to say he still had the largest.

"Apollo!" Hermes warned. Zeus was looking at them, instructing them to do the specific reason they were here.

"Fine," Apollo said. He turned to the crowd. "See you later! We need to do something significant."

Sounds of protest echoed around but Apollo got no choice. When he was about to turn his heel and leave, he heard a gasp. He turned his back and just in time, caught a fainting girl. He realized it was Xierra Fermin, the daughter of Zeus. He grinned. Well, he was very pleased he had accomplished his mission in less than 5 minutes.

Charisse bolted up. She couldn't believe the dream she just had. She could still remember Lady Themis. Her warnings, advices…

"Charisse!" someone exclaimed and she felt someone hugging her. "I'm so worried about you! Thank the gods you're awake!" It was Mao.

Charisse hugged back and couldn't help but to laugh.

Mao stopped and raised an eyebrow. "And why the Hades are you laughing? You nearly died!"

The daughter of Poseidon responded with rambucious laughter. Every head went to the source of the laugh.

"The look on everyone's faces makes me laugh! Seriously, you looked like you have seen someone raise the dead!" Charisse exclaimed.

"Ironically," someone spoke. "We already had seen one." It was Flor.

Charisse stopped laughing and groaned. "Kill Joy," she muttered.

She turned her attention back to Mao. "Where's Will?"

Mao grinned as if she just heard something very pleasant. "He's at the archery."

The quite chubby girl muttered thanks before dashing out of the infirmary.

Will was practicing archery; it didn't mean that he was a son of Hermes, he wasn't good at it and that only Apollo's kids were. He notched another arrow, preparing for another strike at the bulls eye and was about to let go of the string when he heard rustles from the nearby bush. Someone must be stalking him. He strike another bulls eye and prepared for another. Then, instead of focusing it on the target, he directed it at the nearby bush and heard a familiar scream.

He immediately dropped the bow and arrow and checked if his friend was hurt. She was fine. Except for the fact she was glaring daggers at him.

"What was that for?" she asked angrily.

"I thought you're a stalker," Will reasoned simply. "But it appears you're not."

"Thanks for murdering my favorite handkerchief," Charisse snapped as she showed him a handkerchief with design of purple roses torn into pieces.

Will just laughed. "I'm sorry ok?"

"Fine." Charisse sighed and stated, "But you're only half-forgiven."

"Come on!" Will kneeled in front of her. "Are you going to give me the other half if I'm going to show you something?"

Charisse's dark brown eyes instantly sparked with curiosity and excitement. "If I find it interesting."

"I'm positive you will." Will promised as he grabbed Charisse's hand which gave him jolts of electricity rushing in his body and led the way.

"Will!" Charisse exclaimed as she tripped for the nth time. Curse her clumsiness. Will came to her rescue and helped her up. "Come on! We're almost near!"

Charisse groaned but plunged deeper into the forest.

When Will led her the way since he was going to show her something, they went to a path going to the lake. Charisse suppressed a laugh. "How did you know I love lakes?" Will just smiled. "A wise guess. Let's ride that canoe!"

They reached the canoe and Will slid it to the water after Charisse climbed in.

"I didn't know there are two lakes in camp," Charisse said as she looked around.

"I just found this accidentally while playing Capture the Flag. I don't know if other people know about this but it is larger than the lake we knew." Will explained. It was true. Charisse could hardly see the end of those waters! All she could see were faint figures of trees in the distance.

"Is there something I can do to help?" the girl asked.

Will thought for a while before saying, "Command the waters to push the canoe further."

Charisse nodded and the canoe was pushed further into the water.

Then Will gracefully stepped off the jetty into the canoe, placing his feet carefully to prevent it from capsizing. Charisse was impressed by his agility, knowing that what he had done quickly and easily was harder than it looked.

She sat at the front of the canoe, facing backwards. Will had said something about missing the view when he started to paddle, but she'd shaken her head, saying she was fine the way she was. And it was true. She could see everything she really wanted to see if she turned her head, but most of all she wanted to watch Will. It was him; she presumed that gave the most beautiful view ever.

_Artistic_, she thought. There was something almost artistic about him. Something natural, as if being on the water were beyond his control, part of a gene passed on to him from some obscure hereditary pool. Charisse shook her train of thoughts. What was she thinking?

"What are you thinking?"

She felt her insides jump just as Will's voice brought her back to the present. She realized she hadn't said much since they'd started, which was very unusual for the Charisse everyone knew was a talkative and vivid girl.

"Some things," Charisse replied and judging by the grinning smile Will was giving her, she could tell he already knew that she was thinking about him. "You were thinking about me!" Will joked.

"Oh, shut up!" She rolled her eyes. But in truth, she really was. Will chuckled before turning back his attention in rowing the canoe.

After that, peaceful silence descended on them. An osprey cried somewhere in the distance. The paddle moved rhythmically, causing ripples that rocked the boat ever so slightly. The breeze had stopped, and the clouds grew blacker as the canoe moved onwards.

Charisse noticed it all, every sound, every thought. Her senses had come alive, invigorating her, and felt strangely satisfied that he'd torn her favorite handkerchief. Oh goodness. Was she falling in love? She shook her head. She was _too _young for that. A simple admiration as an inspiration was enough. _Dear, this was the age where Annabeth kissed Percy! _A girly voice said in her mind. Charisse shook her head. Her mom wouldn't be glad if she was going to be in a relationship at this age! For once, the quite deep voice didn't say anything. She didn't know why but there was something inside her that missed it. Oh Hades. She was truly going crazy!

"Here we are," Will said as he guided the canoe towards some trees near the bank.

Charisse looked around, not seeing anything. "Where is it?"

"Here," he said again, pointing the canoe at a fallen tree that was almost completely obscuring an opening.

He guided the canoe around the tree, and both of them had to lower their heads to keep from bumping them.

"Close your eyes," he whispered, and Charisse did, bringing her hands to her face. She felt the movement of the canoe as he propelled it forwards, away from the pull of the creek.

"Okay." he finally said after he'd stopped paddling. "You can open them now."

They sat in the middle of a small lake fed by the waters from the creek. It wasn't large, maybe a hundred yards across, and she was surprised how invisible it had been just moments before.

"Look at the sky," Will whispered with a smile. Charisse did and gasped in amazement.

It was spectacular. Tundra swan and Canada geese were flying on the sky, probably migrating into somewhere safe for their kind. Thousands of them. Birds flying so close together in some places that she couldn't see the sky.

"Wow…" she breathed. It was truly amazing. It was her first time to see such wonderful things. "I wonder where they'll go."

"They're migrating to some place suitable for them," Will said. "Probably in Southeast Asia where the weather is tropical or maybe in some place that'll make them feel secured."

Charisse just nodded, still staring at the sky without a care that she'll get neck cramps later. Finally, after a few minutes, the birds have left and they were alone on a small lake.

They sat in silence for a long while, the memory of the birds still replaying in their minds. After a few minutes, Charisse spoke. "How did you know the birds will pass by at this time and place?"

Will just smiled. "Well, I didn't know they'll come and just a mere coincidence."

Charisse just nodded and lied on the earthy ground by the lake. She inhaled fresh air and enjoyed the relaxing moment of the presence of the water, the earth, air and Will.

After a few more relaxing minutes, she inhaled deeply and turned her head to see Will staring at her. She then took his hand and squeezed it. "Thank you," she said softly. Will squeezed her hand back. "Anytime."

And Charisse lied there still holding Will's hand as she closed her eyes to take a short nap.

_What a wonderful and relaxing day!_

Few hours later, the daughter of the sea woke up to find Will gone. Oh great. After that wonderful show of flying birds he'll just disappear? She stood up and after a momentarily focus, her eyesight was now clear. That was where she saw a note. It said, "_Sorry but I've got to leave. Something happened in Hermes's cabin and Travis and Connor need help."_ Charisse shook her head but she couldn't stop a smile from forming. Goodness, he always put others before his self.

Oh well, guess she needed to return to her cabin alone. She rode on the canoe and made the waters pushed it towards the deck enjoying the tranquillity and peace around.

She then got off the canoe and went to her cabin. On her way out of the forest, she heard someone singing. It could've only been a nymph alluring every passerby. She then continued but heard it again. She tried to ignore it but the music was enchanting. She concentrated and realized it was rock music. Ok, was there even a nymph in the world who sings rock music? No… Then, it could be just another demigod!

With determination to know to whom the beautiful voice belonged to, she followed the sound and saw Zeus's Fist. A black haired girl sat on it, her back was turned on Charisse so she couldn't see her face. She was around 13 if she wasn't mistaken. There was a quiver of arrows strapped on her back and a bow sling over her shoulders.

She was tapping her hands on the rock and on her legs to make a rhythm or beat to match the song. Charisse realized the song she was singing was "That's What You Get" by Paramore. She wondered why she was singing such an angst-y song. She just shrugged and was about to turn away when her foot crunched on a stray thin twig.

After a millisecond, Charisse felt an arrow flew past by, an inch from her face. Whoa, that was seriously almost accurate! Charisse quickly hid behind a large tree, enough to hide her quite chubby body.

Arrows flew past by once again and Charisse tried her best to calm down.

"Who's there?" she heard a voice said, powerful and commanding, almost like Zeus himself.

_Maybe this was the time to show yourself, Charisse. _The girl thought and went out of her hiding place. She finally saw the black haired girl.

She looked Asian, with Chinese-like eyes under those glasses and almost white skin. She was also petite and Charisse wished she was that thin.

"I'm sorry if I interrupted you," she said.

The Asian girl, realizing Charisse wasn't a threat, put her bow and arrows back at their place and relaxed. "It's alright."

Charisse then decided to introduce herself properly.

"Hello," she said. "I'm Charisse Aguiluz, daughter of Poseidon. Nice to meet you." She extended her hand for a handshake.

The Asian girl shook her hand. "Name's Sabina Li, daughter of Zeus. Nice to meet you too."

Charisse started the conversation. "Have you gone to a recording company? You are seriously good in singing."

"Not yet," Sabina said and smiled at the daughter of Poseidon to show her appreciation. "And thank you for the compliment."

"So…" Charisse continued after moments of silence. "How long have you been in camp?"

"Started last year," she said while twirling an arrow. "How about you?"

"Just started yesterday," Charisse said.

It happened too fast but Charisse saw it. She saw Sabina's face turned to confusion when she said she started yesterday like she was in disbelief. But when she looked again, it was gone.

"Oh," Sabina said. "Well, I do hope you enjoy camp." She smiled at her once again.

"I did," Charisse said. "This camp is cool."

Silence followed next.

"Anyway," Charisse said, wishing to talk to Sabina further. She felt like this girl would be her best friend, and would stay by her side no matter what happens. "Have you seen the movie Rise of the Guardians?"

Sabina suppressed a laugh. "Of course I do! Oh. My. Zeus. It was so amazing."

"I completely agree!" Charisse exclaimed. "Goodness, Jack Frost is so cute. His carefree attitude and good looks reminded me of someone I knew!"

"I know right?" Sabina said. "It was illegal to make an animated movie character_ that_ handsome!"

Charisse laughed. She liked this girl more and more. "I'm so glad you liked that movie."

"Ditto," Sabina said with a smile.

"You know what, I'm in for an adventure right now." Charisse said and grinned. "What do you think of going further into the forest and search for a lake?"

Sabina said with excitement surging inside her. "Sounds good! I'm in!"

"Now, that's what I call f-u-n!" Charisse exclaimed happily as she sat on the ground.

"Exhausting but fun," Sabina agreed and sat beside her new friend.

The trip in the woods while killing monsters on the way towards the lake was full of excitement and adventure.

"Goodness, I didn't know you can summon many lightning!" Charisse praised Sabina.

"Well, I didn't know you can summon water out of nowhere!" Sabina praised back.

"Cool!" They both said and laughed.

"Ok," Sabina said after laughing. "Now, where's that lake you're talking about?"

Charisse looked around. "It's got to be here somewhere. Come on, let's walk around."

After a few minutes of walking, they finally saw a lake. It wasn't the lake Charisse was talking about, but it'll do.

"It's so peaceful in here," Sabina said admiring the lake. "And very beautiful."

"I know," Charisse said, feeling of calmness washing over her. "If I'll ever own a house, I want to have my own personal lake, similar to this one."

They enjoyed the calmness around before Sabina spoke.

"Will you ever believe me when I tell you that I have this feeling we'll be best friends forever?" Sabina asked turning to Charisse.

Charisse smiled. "What a coincidence! I also got that feeling when I first talked to you."  
>"That's great to hear," Sabina said as she smiled back.<p>

And then, suddenly, someone pushed Charisse to the lake.

"Ahh!" The girl screamed and fell into the water. There was a splash and after a few seconds, she swung herself back to the ground, completely dry. Thank goodness she was immune to the word 'wet'.

She glared at the one who pushed her and thought it was Will who continued laughing a very familiar laugh. Suddenly, her vision seemed to wander somewhere else.

_She was on a paradise. At least, that was what the place looked like to her. There were purple rose bushes everywhere and a lake, similar to the lake where she was earlier with Sabina. She heard the laughter once again and followed it. Hiding behind the purple rose bushes and avoiding getting distracted by their wonderful smell, she watched the scene from afar._

_She saw a girl with a flowing lavender dress, swinging herself back to ground after falling to the lake. But she was completely dry. "Jeez, Herms!" the girl exclaimed, obviously annoyed. "Do you really have to repeat the same trick over again?"_

_She was seriously beautiful. Her waist long black hair was in a long braid and her skin was something in between tan and fair. Her dark brown eyes were shining and she was slim, the body Charisse dreamed to have._

_She heard the laughter once again._

"_I'm so sorry, Riz," the guy who must be Herms said. "But you have to admit, you always fall to the trick over again." And he laughed once again. Seriously, when will this guy ever stop laughing? But his laugh sounded musical in her ears. Charisse shook her head and continued watching._

_The guy was gorgeous too just like the girl. He was slim and fit, with fair skin, curly black hair and brown eyes always shining mischievously. He was wearing blue clothes._

_Riz crossed her arms and glared daggers at Herms. The guy just laughed at her. She threw her arms up in the air in frustration and after a few seconds, just laughed alongside Herms._

_Herms approached her and laced his fingers to hers. Riz smiled at him and the guy smiled back. And they went away, hand in hand._

Charisse blinked and she was back to the present. Her head was feeling like it would explode but composed herself. She needed to deal with what was happening right now.

"Jeez, Will, what was that for?" She asked angrily and glared daggers at him when she realized it wasn't Will who was laughing and who just pushed her on the lake.

He was a guy around 17, with curly black hair, brown eyes and fair skin. For a moment, he almost looked like Will except for the curly hair and elfish-like ears.

The guy stopped laughing. "That is just hilarious," he said, still grinning. "Hello Sabina, half-sis." He turned to Sabina and gave her a grin.

Sabina grinned back at him. "Hey, half-bro!" Charisse could tell they met somewhere before and were close to each other.

The girl just looked at the trees, admiring how the light of the sun shone its rays around the forest.

"BTW, half-bro," Sabina said. "I want to introduce you to my best friend." Snapping out of her thoughts, Charisse looked at Sabina.

Turning to Charisse, Sabina said. "Charisse, this is Hermes, god of messengers, travelers and thieves. He's really cool and a great half-brother if you ask me."

Turning to Hermes, Sabina continued, "Hermes, this is Charisse, a daughter of Poseidon. She's amazing and a great best friend."

Charisse looked at Hermes more closely and his appearance changed. He was a man in late 20's, wearing nylon running shorts and a New York Marathon T-shirt. He got salt and pepper hair and blue eyes that twinkled like he was up to no good.

She blinked. But earlier, she saw a 17 year old guy… Must be her imagination.

And then suddenly, her vision wandered off again.

_Charisse saw herself, walking on the streets of Manhattan late at night. She didn't have any idea why she was walking in Manhattan at such a time like this. She heard herself mutter about a strange name- something like Amos and cursing her curiosity, will and determination._

_And then suddenly, she stopped at the sight of the sea. Realizing she got lost, she sighed and was about to walk away when she saw a guy._

_In the distance, there was a man in late 20's with salt and pepper hair. He was jogging around the beach in nylon running shorts and a New York City Marathon T-shirt. He was slim, tall and fit. He had a cell phone on his ear and it looked like he was talking to someone._

_Charisse saw herself shrugged and walked away as if she hadn't seen anything._

Charisse blinked once again and she was back to the present. Goodness… What was up with these all weird scenes inside her head?

Hermes's eyes widen at the sight of her and his grin grew bigger. "Hey, Charisse!" he exclaimed with enthusiasm. "Nice to see you again. So, have you been taking good care of George and Martha? If you only know how much I miss those two."

The daughter of the sea scrunched her eyebrows together in confusion. What was he talking about? And who were George and Martha? Why would she even take care of them?

Hermes continued, "Anyway, here's the 100 drachmas I promised." Getting a brown sack from his messenger bag (which was too small to hold the thing and must be enchanted), he gave it to Charisse.

Why did he just give her 100 drachmas? And what was the promise he was saying?

Charisse's mind started to spin. _Please remember…_

Goodness… Her head hurts! There was something she was missing that she couldn't put her finger to.

Finally, the pain subsided and Charisse looked at Hermes.

"I'm sorry, Sir," Charisse said. "But may I ask you a question?"

Hermes raised an eyebrow when Charisse said 'Sir' but replied, "Sure Charisse."

Charisse opened her mouth to say it but part of her was telling her she shouldn't say those words for she completely knew this man. How could she know him? She couldn't remember meeting him earlier than now... But there was this part of her who was saying they had met in the past. She got more confused and asked, "Have I met you before?"

He furrowed an eyebrow at her and laughed.

"Oh, come on. I didn't know you have the talent in telling jokes." He said, not taking Charisse's question seriously. "You really are my love."

My love? Charisse's confusion grew more if that was possible. There was really something wrong. Something she couldn't identify. She sighed, not knowing why the calmness she was feeling earlier disappeared.

"Look, Sir," Charisse said as calmly as she could manage and saw his blue eyes widen. "I don't know who you are and I'm serious. Here's your sack of 100 drachmas. I don't think I can accept something I don't have any idea how I got it or why you gave it to me. And please, don't call me 'my love' for we're not close nor in a relationship and we've just met. Thank you, Sir Hermes."

Hermes's jaw dropped slightly but closed it instantly. Still eyes in shock, he said, "You've got to be kidding me."

**The next chapter might be another 'special' in Hermes's POV or the continuation of this chapter. Well, I do hope you like this chapter especially with the 'visions' Charisse is having. :) Tell me what you think! Thank you! :)**


	5. The Chosen Twelve

**Author's Note: **

**Hello, I'm sorry for updating late. **

**Chapter 4 is all about what happened next after the heartbreaking encounter of Charmes (and I apologize to Charmes4ever's group for writing that scene), a dream about the upcoming quest is all about, the reason why the Eleven Olympians (without Artemis) was visiting Camp Half-Blood and who The Chosen Twelve of the quest are. **

**Disclaimer: Don't own anything.**

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 4 – The Chosen Twelve<strong>

It hurt. A lot.

Charisse didn't understand what was happening to her. So many questions swimming inside her mind- all of them starting with the word 'why'. Why did it hurt like this? Why did it feel like her heart was torn into thousand pieces? Why did she feel bad when she saw the pained expression of the god of messengers? Why did she want to comfort him, and tell him she was just kidding about not knowing him? Why did a part of her wanted to eat her words, get the sack of 100 drachmas for she earned it and tell the guy she missed him, and then give him a hug?

It was confusing.

But still, no matter what her mind said to her heart, it still hurt.

She lowered her head. The feeling of calmness was gone, replaced by different kinds of emotions towards the Greek god, whom she just met- at least that was what her still sane and logical part said.

"Charisse?" she heard her best friend's concerned voice. She must've looked like she was suffering- which she really was. Suffering from something she didn't have any idea _what_ and _why._

"I'm fine." Charisse replied and was shocked how calm her voice was wherein inside, she was in pure chaos.

She finally took up the courage to look at the guy in front of her. The pain could still be clearly seen in his eyes, but a forced grin was on his face. A flash of confusion could also be hinted in his blue eyes.

Sabina coughed, breaking the tension.

"Bro, do you know Charisse?" she asked Hermes.

The daughter of the sea watched closely, curious to know if the guy really knew her.

"Of course not." He said, laughing shortly before saying, "That was my latest prank, pretending to know somebody I haven't even met." Hermes's words struck her. He didn't know her. It was a prank. No. _No. _They completely knew each other. Charisse could feel it. A part of her consciousness told her they had met before, and they were very close to each other. _He was lying. _

Sabina shook her head. "Oh gods, here I thought you two already know each other. That's not a good prank, Hermes."

Hermes just laughed.

Charisse finally found her voice and turned towards her best friend. "I'm really sorry Sabina but I'm not feeling good. I need go back to my cabin and rest for awhile."

Her best friend scrunched her eyebrows together. She was worried about her condition. "Ok, Char. But be sure to get well soon. Just tell me if there's anything I can do to help you ok? And have yourself checked up by some Apollo campers. Oh and when you're not feeling bad anymore, visit me in my cabin, will you?"

Charisse nodded and smiled. She was fortunate to have such a thoughtful friend. "I promise I will."

Not wanting to look at the god for just the sight of him and his pained reaction were still carved in her mind and will make her feel worse, she turned her back and ran.

* * *

><p>It felt like hours before she reached her cabin. She fell on her knees and sobbed. It hurt. Pain. So much pain. She almost couldn't bear it. Why was she sobbing? Why did it shatter her heart to see him in pain? Why did she feel like her world crashed down into ruins when he told Sabina it was only a prank when it was clear it wasn't?<p>

She went to her bed and curled into a ball. While wishing the unknown pain will go away, or at least she will have an idea why she was feeling so miserable, she fell asleep.

_Charisse was surprised to find herself in a really dark place, only torches lined on the walls were the only source of light- which was insufficient. She was in a closed place she almost felt claustrophobic. _

_She walked and deduced that she might be in an underground place, or in a huge dark cave. She continued walking in the tunnel-like place until she saw a huge ceiling up above. Her eyes then landed at the bottom, wanting to know what it held. She regretted that she did. _

_Almost twenty five feet below, they were all cloaked. Hundreds of them. Thousands even. A big fire was burning in the middle of the crowd and was the only source of light on the clearing. Outside, Charisse could hear the sky rumbling, roaring while lightning flashed around. It was scary. _

_She also noticed a throne, sitting there mighty and strong near the fire. It was so tall and huge only someone who was seven feet or above could sit on it. _

_Suddenly, the crowd was divided into two making a path towards the fire. And she almost gasped too loud because of it but fortunately she didn't for she would be dead right now._

_An eight feet tall and pale bald man was standing regally like a king. He got huge muscles which will make Ares's kids wonder how he got those. But his eyes- they were pure black and evilness could be seen. His eyes were macabre. Unfortunately, his menacing and villainy look was not the reason why the girl gasped. _

_It were the weapons he was holding in his hands- all radiated with power. Then, she saw it- her father's trident in the man's hands with other ten weapons from swords, spears, and many more. _

_Charisse almost lost her balance when she realized what she was seeing. The man was a thief; he stole the Olympians' weapons. Was that the reason why the Olympians made a sudden appearance at camp? Then… If those were really the Olympians' weapons, where was the other one? They were supposed to be twelve. _

_As if on cue, the cloaked beings gasped. _

"_My lord, are those the Olympians' weapons?" one asked from the crowd. _

_The man smiled that gave Charisse the creeps. "Yes, it is." _

"_Esiw Eno," the man said as he turned towards the cloaked creature beside him. "Are these enough?" _

_Esiw Eno nodded. "Yes," he said. "We already have everything we need. We just need to wait for the right time to raise our King." _

"_Now," he continued, turning to the tall and huge man. "May I examine each?" _

_The man gave Esiw Eno the weapons and the wise creature examined each. He just kept nodding, muttering how it will be truly enough. But then, he stopped shortly after examining a lyre- which probably belonged to Apollo. He glanced at the other ten weapons and thought for awhile. After a few seconds, he turned to the man. _

"_I am afraid there is a problem," Esiw Eno said, his voice sounded full of intelligence as he spoke. "These-" he gestured towards the eleven Olympians' weapons, "-are only eleven whereas the Olympians are twelve. A weapon was missing." _

_Murmurs revolved around, echoing around the cave's walls making Charisse hear what they were saying. Chaos ensued next. Everyone in the clearing all wondered how it was impossible and how could one be missing. _

_Charisse didn't know why but her hand instinctively went to her right pocket, where the red mobile phone was kept. She didn't know why but she suddenly felt protective of it- as if though that was the missing weapon and her only hope. _

"_SILENCE!" The man shouted as the room went quiet. _

_Turning to Esiw Eno, the tall man asked, "What shall we do?" _

"_Find it," Esiw Eno said and turned to the crowd. "Whoever will find the missing weapon within five days will be greatly rewarded!"_

_Excited chatters were heard- everyone was determined to find the missing weapon. A reward sounded great and tempting. _

_After few seconds, Esiw Eno looked above- towards her direction making Charisse stood frozen. Her heart started to beat faster, fearing what might happen next. It was as if the clever man could sense her. Before she knew it, Esiw Eno told the man beside him, "We have an eavesdropper." _

_The very tall man looked towards her direction too and smiled creepily that'll surely make Charisse have a nightmare about it every night. "I'll meet you soon, demigod." _

And she woke up with a start.

She started panting, gripping the soft bed sheets tightly her knuckles almost turned white. Her breathing was so fast matching her own heartbeats. That nightmare was the most macabre thing she had ever seen.

_Calm down, Charisse. It's only a dream. _The girl thought as her breathing and heartbeat turned normal. She closed her eyes and breathed deeply. Inhale. Exhale. Inhale. Exhale. She started to calm down but it wasn't enough. She needed water.

Grabbing a towel and some clothes, she went inside the bathroom and enjoyed the fountain of water straight from the sea. She was very thankful Dad gave Percy this as a gift.

A few minutes under the comfort of seawater made her feel relaxed and comfortable as if though she was at home. She almost forgot about her nightmare.

After a few minutes, she dried herself and wore the clothes she brought. She left the bathroom, feeling refreshed.

Suddenly, she heard someone knocking and opening the door of cabin 3.

"Charisse, are you there?" It was Percy. Sabina must've told her half-brother about what happened with the god. _Her- _She sighed. What was wrong with her? Why couldn't she just say it without remembering what happened earlier?

"Yes, I'm here," she said, opening the door of the bathroom.  
>Percy smiled at the sight of her. "I see you've been feeling good. Dad's gift always had that effect on us."<p>

Charisse nodded, completely agreeing with him. "So, why are you looking for me?"

Percy said, "It's already dinner. Mr. D wants you to be there at the pavilion."

"Oh," she said, wondering why Mr. D wanted her presence at the pavilion. She better find out. "I'll be there in a sec."

Percy nodded. "Though you better be hurry. You know Mr. D, he doesn't like waiting. I don't think you want grapevines tangled around your body, squeezing the life out of you like a sponge."

The fifteen-year-old girl laughed. "I know, okay? I promise I'll hurry up. Now go, Annabeth must be looking for you right now. She's another person you shouldn't keep waiting." She then gave him a wink and he returned it with a smile before leaving.

The daughter of the sea sighed and took another couple of deep breaths. The god would be there, obviously. There was no way she couldn't go, her presence was required for some unknown reason she didn't know yet. And there was no way she could ignore the god for that would be utterly and undeniably disrespectful. So, what choice did she have?

_Ok, Charisse, just go to the pavilion, act completely normal and - as much as possible the Fates would let you- ignore the god. _ The Filipina nodded, it sounded like a plan. Better than nothing. Gathering her courage, she closed the door of her cabin and ran towards the pavilion.

* * *

><p>As always, the pavilion was packed with satyrs, naiads and demigods. The Twelve Olympians (except for Artemis) were also there at the high table with Mr. D, Chiron and Rachel Elizabeth Dare.<p>

What Charisse feared came true- the god was watching her as she sat on table three with Percy and her other half-siblings. Oh goodness. She was fighting a part of her in meeting the god's gorgeous blue eyes- hey wait, did she just say _gorgeous? _ What in the world was happening to her?

Before she could think further, food was served and she wanted to eat- even if it meant she should stop her mind from travelling to different places at the same time.

She filled her plate with her most favorite food in the world- _Beef Steak Tagalog, _poached egg and fried rice. Murmuring "Water" at her goblet, she started eating, enjoying her meal. She swore she would never get tired in eating this.

Like a daily routine- in this case, an every single meal routine- she stood up and offered the best in her plate to the gods- this time, she offered it to Poseidon, thanking him for his gift to Percy. It still seemed awkward how all of the Twelve Olympians- parents of almost everyone inside the pavilion and to whom their offerings go to- were just a few feet from her table like ordinary human beings enjoying a meal. She wondered how the gods accept the offering or how they'll use it.

After everyone was done eating dinner and the plates were cleared away, Chiron stood up and said, "You may all be wondering why the respectable Twelve Olympians all gathered up in here, visiting us, am I correct?"

Sounds of agreement were said by the people.

Chiron put his right hand up to silence them. "Lord Zeus has something to say that will surely answer your questions." He gave a nod to the King of the gods before sitting down.

Zeus didn't even need to stand up to be recognized for he was already tall enough that even the farthest demigods in the pavilion could see him. "Thank you Chiron." He told Chiron before turning to the crowd, "Olympus has encountered an almost impossible problem to solve. All of us, Twelve Olympians, have our own symbolic and powerful weapons missing. Every one of you understands that the Olympians' weapons are the symbol of our power and for them to get in the wrong hands will put all of us in grave danger." Gasps were heard around. It was definitely unrealistic and impossible. The mighty weapons of the Olympians… were missing? Stolen? After a few seconds, Zeus continued. "This is the reason why we went here. Twelve of you are going in a quest to find the weapon of the god they represent. Each would be divided into groups and each can still choose their companions." Excited chatters were heard. Everyone wanted to know who The Chosen Twelve were.

"Dad will definitely choose Percy," Charisse heard one of her half-siblings said.

"Totally, he's always the best." Another one agreed.

Charisse didn't know but a part of her was wishing Poseidon would choose her. She didn't know why but she felt like she went to a quest before and she had made her father proud. Jeez, what was she thinking? As if that feeling was true. As if Poseidon would choose her over Percy. Ok, fine, even if the truth hurts, she still wanted to hope. There was nothing wrong in hoping, right?

Zeus continued, "Whoever will get the symbol of one of the Twelve Olympians above their heads will be one of the chosen demigods to participate in this very noble quest." Turning to the other Olympians he nodded and then said. "Olympians, choose your own representatives!"

Symbols suddenly appeared above the heads of the chosen demigods. There was Clarisse La Rue from the Ares cabin and Katie Gardiner from the Demeter cabin. The Greek Heroes of Olympus were also chosen- namely Leo Valdez from Hephaestus, Piper McLean from Aphrodite, Jason Grace from Zeus (but he represented Hera), Annabeth Chase from Athena and… Percy Jackson from Poseidon.

Charisse's heart sank. How stupid was she in even thinking Dad would choose her? She didn't even have any experience in quests and Percy was definitely the first choice. Percy totally deserved it after all he had done great things for Olympus making him Dad's most favorite son. Charisse pushed the sadness out of her mind and congratulated Percy with a quick hug. "Congrats, Percy, I'm happy for you!" She truly was.

Sabina's shout of joy was heard above the cheers from the other cabins, congratulating their siblings. Charisse looked at her direction and there was a lightning bolt above her head. Zeus had chosen her. Her best friend was in pure joy. Who wouldn't? Getting chosen by your father was an honor. It was surprising Zeus let Hera chose Jason as her representative.

Charisse wished to just go back to her cabin and sleep. She looked at Xierra and they stared at each other- having a sort of telepathy between their eyes. The daughter of Zeus also wanted to go to sleep and for this to just pass by already. The sea girl also noticed Xierra was also disappointed her father didn't choose her. She was glad she wasn't the only one.

But their wish wasn't granted.

The whole Poseidon and Zeus table gasped. Charisse and Xierra, who were still staring at each other's eyes, also gasped in surprise. The daughter of Zeus looked up above her head and saw it. A golden lyre was above Xierra's head and Charisse could see from the corner of her eyes that there was also a symbol above her head- a caduceus.

Apollo and Hermes didn't choose any of their children. The teenage Olympians chose them as their representatives. Xierra Fermin and Charisse Aguiluz were two of The Chosen Twelve.

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><p><strong>I want you to say in the review if you want the story to be continued or to have another special one shot like <strong>_**For the First Time. **_**The next chapter will be about the preparation for the quest while the next special one shot will be about Hermes's POV when he and Charisse met once again at Pampanga, Philippines (Chapter 3 of **_**A Walk to Manhattan**_**) and it'll be a huge spoiler for the whole Charmes love story in this first book of the A New Enemy Arising Trilogy. :) So, vote now! **


	6. Preparation for the Quest

**Author's Notes:  
><strong>

**Thank you so much for the wonderful reviews! :) **

**Chinese girl 50: Thanks Sa! **

**Guest: Thank you and just like I promised, here's the next chapter! The continuation of the story!**

**We'll Fight Till The End: I continued so I hope I had saved your life. :P Just kidding. **

**Disclaimer: Don't own anything!**

**And sorry for the prophecy! I don't have any talent in writing poetry. -.-**

**Enjoy!**

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><p><strong>Chapter 5 – Preparation for the Quest <strong>

The only thing Charisse could think of was this: Apollo and especially Hermes were crazy. (She knew it was disrespectful to think two Olympians were crazy but she couldn't help it. She didn't even care if she would be zap at any minute now.)

She would seriously understand more if Hermes chose Will Hanson or the twin counsellors of Hermes cabin, Travis and Connor Stoll. She would understand more if Apollo chose Will Solace. But _no, _Hermes chose her and Apollo chose Xierra.

Goodness, it was a mad _mad _world.

Everyone in the Apollo cabin was shouting, probably because they were surprise and upset. Only Will Solace and a few Apollo campers were seated calmly.

She was surprised to see that the Hermes cabin were all fine- she meant, really. It was like they were all happy for her, which was weird. Glancing at Will, she saw him gave her a wide smile and mouthing, "Congratulations." Heat started to get its way through her cheeks but it disappeared as quickly as it came. Strange, she should be blushing like she always did when she saw Will. But right now, she wasn't. Hey, why was her heart not beating as fast as before? Could it mean she didn't like Will anymore? Impossible.

Chiron cleared his throat making the whole dining pavillion silent. "The Chosen Twelve, please follow me to the Big House. As of the remaining campers, go back to your cabins and sleep."

Charisse stood up on her seat and walked beside Xierra, who was still dazed by the sudden upturn of events muttering every now and then how Apollo was serious, and Sabina, who was on her left side, was still smiling widely she bet her smile was more sunny than the kids of Apollo combined. She wondered what the other campers think right now as they looked at her for she honestly didn't know how she would react- smile, frown, groan, confuse, or in a daze. She just kept her eyes straight and forced a small smile on her face. Better look like she was slightly happy since it was an honor and everyone was dying to be in her place right now.

Once inside the Big House, they all settled down to sit, some were on the floor and some were on the couch and two seats. There weren't enough seats in the room for all twelve demigods to be accommodated.

Charisse looked around her and saw Percy sat on her left side with a smile followed by Annabeth (who also gave her a warm smile) and Katie Gardiner. On her right side was Sabina, Xierra, Chiron, Mr. D, Pollux, Clarisse, Piper, Leo and finally, Jason. So basically Katie was beside Jason if not for the couch.

When everyone was already settled down, Chiron said, "You'd be given two days as a preparation for this very noble quest. I hope by that time everyone is prepared and ready to start."

Charisse could've sworn Chiron was talking about her. She wasn't ready in this quest! She just arrived at camp a few days ago. But then, a part of her mind was assuring her doubtful side that she was a skilled person who already know what to do in quests.

"I assembled you here to know the groupings of this quest." Chiron continued and she could feel a few people tensed for they still didn't know who their companions were. Some were already smiling as if though they already knew and it was obvious.

"Can we go together?" Sabina's happy voice made her turn and looked at her best friend. She smiled at her, "Sure."

Xierra said, "And I am going to join your group. No objections!"

Katie and Clarisse were just sitted calmly, not bothering to build their own group.

"I hope by now everyone of you already has a group." Chiron said as all of us nodded, few minutes later. "Here's the groupings that all of you decided.

Group# 1: Jason, Piper, Leo

#2: Percy, Annabeth, Grover

#3: Katie, Travis, Connor

#4: Clarisse and Chris

#5: Sabina, Charisse and Xierra."

He raised an eyebrow towards the last group making them tensed. What was wrong?

"I don't advise for all of you to be in one group," the trainer of heroes said. "You're all daughters of the Big Three especially Sabina and Xierra being daughters of Zeus. With the three of you in one group will attract so many monsters."

Oh yeah, Charisse forgot about this. She was too overwhelmed at the thought that she'll get to go with her two best friends in this quest she forgot about other things that mattered too.

"I'm going to set up my own group," Xierra volunteered. Charisse looked at her, amazed at her courage. "I'll tell you tomorrow my two other companions."

Chiron nodded and looked at the Filipina. She didn't know who to choose. She made only a few friends around here. How about Mao? She could be but another Hermes kid found its way inside her mind. Will. He'll do. "Will Hanson." Charisse said and Chiron nodded. A daughter of Zeus and Poseidon and a son of Hermes, not bad for a group.

After few more minutes of talking about preparation how they should train and gather a lot of knowledge for the possible culprit and many more, Chiron dismissed them for the night. Tomorrow would be the start of the two day preparation. This must be a very dangerous quest and she could feel her heart beating in excitement. She loved adventures, but she hated it when life and death situations happen, she could barely think and possibly freak out when that'll happen.

When she arrived at her cabin, all of her half-siblings were sleeping and she heard Percy yawn beside her.

"Good night bro," she smiled at him.

"Night sis." He replied and they went to their respective beds.

* * *

><p>The next morning, Charisse woke up at exactly 6 AM and walked around the camp as her exercise. She passed by some other demigods jogging or chatting happily with their friends. She wasn't used to in waking up early for she wasn't fond of mornings. She could swear that sometimes, she thought that she must be an adoptive daughter of Poseidon and her real godly father was Hypnos for she dearly loved to sleep. Separating her from her bed required a lot of discipline, strength, patience and convincing whoever that lucky person who'll wake her up. But right now, she knew she should prepare for the next days would be very hard. She could feel it in her bones. So whoever was assigned to wake her up today was definitely lucky.<p>

She was walking around when she reached the Demeter cabin. Always full of different kinds of plants and so greenery. If the cabins were color-coding, Demeter's would be green, representing nature.

She was about to continue walking when Katie came out of nowhere calling her name. She panted in front of her, catching a breath.

"Katie?" she asked in disbelief that the counsellor of Demeter cabin would come looking for her.

"Hey Char," she smiled at her. "Well, Chiron wanted to assemble all of us so that we can all go and see the oracle for any prophecy for our quest."

"Oh," she just said and followed the Demeter girl outside the cave where The Chosen Twelve would meet.

They reached the cave few minutes later and found everyone else was already there.

"Sorry we're kinda late," Katie apologized and they just nodded.

Percy motioned inside after saying, "Let's go consult the oracle."

They found Rachel Elizabeth Dare inside the cave, busy painting on the canvas. What she was painting was seriously creepy. The background were red and black, mixed together that'll give impression to whoever will see it that it was an evil aura. In the middle of it was a very tall man with pale white skin and huge muscled body. He was wearing a black coat and his big hands were curled into fists. Rachel was busy painting his eyes- which were color black and so macabre…

Charisse almost gasped. Oh goodness, that man in the painting… It was the same man she had in her dream! The one who stole the Olympians' weapons!

Percy, who was beside her, must've sensed her fear for he asked in a concerned brotherly tone, "Are you alright?"

The girl nodded before saying, "Yeah, I'm fine. It's nothing."

Unconvinced, Percy took his attention back to the front after shooting her a worried glance.

"Hey Rachel," Xierra greeted cheerily.

Rachel smiled at them after putting down the paintbrush and palette. "I didn't notice you came in."

"You're too busy painting to notice it," Clarisse grumbled.

Sabina looked at the painting and almost yelped. "What are you painting?"

"Oh this," Rachel looked at the creepy painting. "I just saw him in a dream. I don't know who he is but I'm pretty sure he got something to do with these strange occurrences in Mt. Olympus."

Everyone fell silent as they stared at the painting and the man's macabre eyes looking back at them.

"Anyway," Piper said with her beautiful voice. "We're here to ask for the prophecy."

After the Aphrodite girl said that, green smoke started to surround them coming from Rachel. And then they heard the old, ancient, raspy voice of the original Oracle of Delphi.

"_In a country known for being the Pearl Orient_

_Where The Chosen Twelve should be sent_

_A cave full of beauty dreams and pride_

_With twelve different pathways inside_

_All of the eleven symbols can be find in one place_

_But before they can get them, each shall face_

_A challenge they can't battle_

_And everything will end in debacle_

_But the fatal flaw of one of you_

_Will save everything, this is true."_

Rachel, still under the Oracle of Delphi mode, looked at their eyes, one by one and finally rested on the last, Charisse's. The girl suddenly shivered even if it wasn't cold. She suddenly grew tensed.

The oracle's eyes stared at hers for a moment before speaking once again.

"_Daughter of the sea, you who got lost_

_Beware the Persuasion Lady_

_She'll never stop at all cost_

_To make your life lonely_

_You should fight her bravely_

_For what you longed to have is the trophy_."

And Rachel fainted.

Charisse froze. What did it mean? _Daughter of the sea, you who got lost… _Lost in where? _Beware the Persuasion Lady, She'll never stop at all cost, To make you life lonely… _Who was she and why did she want to ruin her life? What did she do to her to make whoever that Persuasion Lady mad at her? _You should fight her bravely, For what you longed to have is the trophy… _What she longed for was the trophy she'd get when she fought her? Well, that wasn't the real question. The real question was, what _does _she longed for?

True love? No way.

To get rich? Not really.

To find happines? Maybe.

Or… _or… _To be complete… Yes, this was what she longed for. There were dozens of times in her life where she felt this unshakeable feeling like something was missing in her life. Something she couldn't put a finger into. Despite her smartness, she couldn't determine what it was.

She wanted to know what was wrong with her. To find the answers she'd been looking for…

She could feel the look of everyone's eyes boring into her. Honestly, she didn't have any idea so she just shrugged telling them in that manner that she didn't have any clue.

Even as The Chosen Twelve departed to prepare for the quest, she knew they were talking about her behind her back, about the prophecy Rachel told her. It was crazy.

She was about to head back to her cabin to have some time to think about the prophecy when Annabeth called her.

She turned her back to the blonde girl, raising an eyebrow.

"Well, I figured that you need someone to talk to and to help you prepare for the quest. Besides, you still have no weapon to use." She explained. Hmm, it did make sense. She didn't have any weapon at all and she didn't know if she had any knowledge in fighting off monsters. She was the least choice to be in this quest and wouldn't be here at all if it weren't for Hermes.

Hermes… How was he now, she wondered. Was he still upset about what she told him? She shook her head. Goodness, why was she thinking about him if he were alright or not? She didn't care a thing for the god and she thought she had no right to even think about him, anyway. But her heart was urging her to do so… Jeez.

"Thank you," she told Annabeth as the Athena girl led her to the weapon shed.

Getting a key from her pocket, she opened the door and they went inside. Smells of dust filled her nose. It must've been a long time ago since someone went in here.

Inside, it was full of weapons ranging from long distance to short ones, bow and arrows, swords, daggers and other bladed weapons. She tried one of the swords but it was too light. She tried a spear but it was too heavy. She tried the dagger, it was alright but her hand wasn't feeling comfortable holding it.

They were inside the weapon shed for thirty minutes already and Charisse still didn't find a suitable weapon for her. They were nearing the end of the shed when she saw something that caught her eye. It was a celestial bronze sword, three feet tall with a purple hilt. She felt Annabeth got alarmed when she touched it. What was wrong with her?

"Do you like that weapon?" Annabeth asked.

The girl in question nodded but then noticed that the sword was broken. Its purple hilt was burned so was some edges of the sword. She wondered what happened to it.

"A demigod of Poseidon once used that," the gray-eyed girl said and continued. "She went on a quest to save her home country and well, she died by burning. She was holding the sword when she fought the enemy that's why the sword was also burned in the hilt and in some edges. I'm sorry but you can't have that. It's not in a perfect condition to be used."

Charisse nodded sadly as she put the sword back in its place. That must be the reason why it was located near the end of the shed.

A part of her was telling her to give up already, that she won't find the suitable weapon for her inside this shed. But majority of her wanted to go on and find the weapon for she was positive it was here inside. She shouldn't give up just when she was near to her goal.

After concluding that she would continue in her mind, she saw something at the corner of her eye, shining. She thought at first that it must've been her imagination. But then, it shone once again and she went to the end of the shed just to get it. Annabeth closely followed behind her.

The source of the shining were two sticks made up of _rattan. _She picked one and balanced it on her palm and grasp it. She moved it a little around, in caution to prevent hitting the other weapons and she felt a wide smile forming on her face. She finally found it.

"These are…" she looked at the _rattan _stick on her right hand as she twirled it like a majorette, but slower.

"…_rattan_ sticks for _Kali,_" Annabeth continued for her and started telling her what _Kali _was. "_Kali _is a kind of Filipino Martial Arts which is more defense than offense. It is used to disarm the opponent using a hard stick. It primarily focuses on the senses like ears rather than the eyes. It is believed that _Kali _came from a blind princess who was the greatest fighter on her land. She promised that whoever can defeat her, will be her husband. No one succeeded and it is revealed that the princess, even though she was blind, was a remarkable fighter for she uses her senses than the eyes. The Kali is patterened after the blind princess's fighting style."

Charisse stared at her for awhile before saying, "How did you _know _that?"

"Well, I've done a little research in different kinds of martial arts," Annabeth admitted. "And _Kali _is quite famous in San Francisco especially in Sacramento, California."

"Ironic how it originated from my country and yet it was quite unknown in the Philippines and how Filipinos prefer to study _Taekwondo, Kung fu _and _Muay Thai _than _Kali._" Charisse mumbled and hoped that every Filipino should know about this and study so that their culture would be preserved.

"I guess I already found my weapon," she said as she took the other stick with her left hand.

Annabeth said, "There's a problem. We'll be leaving here in two days and you still have no training. And, no one in this camp can train you in _Kali _for only few people know that. How can you learn your weapon?"

"Self-study," Charisse said, burning with determination. She shouldn't let the problem Annabeth said make her give up on this thing. She could do it. She knows she can. "Annabeth, I'd do whatever it takes to learn how to use this. I know I'll find a way."

The girl just nodded at the daughter of Poseidon and said, "If you need any researching about _Kali, _I can bring you books that can help you out."

She gave her a smile of appreciation and gratitude. "That would be nice. Thanks."

They went out of the weapon shed and dropped by to the Athena cabin to get some researching materials. Instead of going back to her cabin, Charisse decided to go to the lake where Will brought her yesterday. She would study and train in there.

Gathering the five textbooks on her hands, she went to the canoes and pushed the waves to the lake and stayed on there to practice.

She spent the whole day self-studying _Kali _and forgetting everything else for awhile_. _

* * *

><p><strong>Preview for the next chapter: <strong>

She woke up the next day feeling tired and exhausted. She stayed up a little late last night to finish her studying at Filipino Martial Arts. She felt her whole body was beaten the crap out of it. She was about to go to sleep once again when the door of the Poseidon cabin barged open and Sabina went inside.

It wasn't always that a daughter of Zeus would unexpectedly visit the Poseidon cabin that was why most of Charisse's half-siblings were complaining since it was still early in the morning.

Without a care to the groaning children of the sea, Sabina directly went to Charisse's bed.

"Rise up, Ms. Sunshine," she told her with a wide smile.

The daughter of the sea groaned and covered her face with a pillow. "I hate mornings." She mumbled.

"Oh come on," Sabina said as she forcefully removed the pillow. "The Chosen Twelve are being called to the Big House right now. And I was assigned by Percy to wake you up for this day."

Charisse could feel her siblings' eyes as they heard her conversations with Sabina, hoping to get a scoop. Everyone was curious about whatever was happening when The Chosen Twelve were being assembled since it was top secret. She bet they were wishing Sabina would slip out but she knew it would never happen. Sabina was careful with the words she says.

"And why would I go to the Big House right now?" she asked as she yawned.

Sabina's smile turned wider, if that was possible. "Well, the Athena cabin found something that might help us figure out the prophecy and the thief."

**And another one! **

"Why didn't you tell me yesterday?" Will asked.

"What do you mean?" Charisse asked as she grasped the two _rattan_ sticks.

"Char," Will said as he took a deep breath. "I could've helped you out yesterday instead of self-studying. You can't self-study martial arts!"

"Again Will," she asked as she grew impatient. Why wouldn't Will just spit out his point? Why wouldn't he just be straight forward? "What do in the world are you pointing out?"

The son of Hermes took a deep breath before saying, "Well, I can teach you _Kali._"

**What did the Athena cabin find out about the prophecy and the possible thief? And Will knows Kali? Find out on the next chapter, the last day of the preparation!**

**R&R! :) **


	7. Last Day of Preparation

**Author's Notes: **

**Hi guys! I present to you chapter 6 of ANEA: The Cave of Dreams. I hope you like it. :)**

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything.**

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 6 – Last Day of Preparation<strong>

If anyone could wake Charisse up without throwing a bucket of cold water on her (which don't work since she was a daughter of Poseidon), removing the blanket for her to feel cold (sometimes it works but not all the time) or dragging her out of the bed, it would be Sabina. Just one sentence made her step out of the bed.

She woke up the next day feeling tired and exhausted. She stayed up a little late last night to finish her studies in Filipino Martial Arts. She felt like her whole body was beaten the crap out of it. She was about to go to sleep once again when the door of the Poseidon cabin barged open and Sabina went inside.

It wasn't always that a daughter of Zeus would unexpectedly visit the Poseidon cabin that was why most of Charisse's half-siblings were complaining since it was still early in the morning.

Without a care to the groaning children of the sea, Sabina directly went to Charisse's bed.

"Rise up, Ms. Sunshine," she told her with a wide smile.

The daughter of the sea groaned and covered her face with a pillow. "I hate mornings." She mumbled.

"Oh come on," Sabina said as she forcefully removed the pillow. "The Chosen Twelve are being called to the Big House right now. And I was assigned by Percy to wake you up today."

Charisse could feel her siblings' eyes as they heard her conversations with Sabina, hoping to get a scoop. Everyone was curious about whatever was happening when The Chosen Twelve were being assembled since it was top secret. She bet they were wishing Sabina would slip out but she knew it would never happen. The girl was careful with the words she says.

"And why would I go to the Big House right now?" she asked as she yawned.

Sabina's smile turned wider, if that was possible. "Well, the Athena cabin found something that might help us figure out the prophecy and the thief."

That made Charisse stood up from her bed. "Give me five minutes and I'll be all set."

Her best friend nodded and went outside to wait. The daughter of Poseidon immediately went to the bathroom, took a really quick bath and wore an orange Camp Half-Blood t-shirt and dark blue jeans. Also her usual light purple rubber shoes and tied her hair in a side ponytail. She took one last glance on the mirror, noting how her forehead shines due to her oily face but dismissed it. She'll apply powder later or maybe not.

With only a minute left, she fixed her bed and some things scattered and brought it back to their proper places and took a fast scan around the cabin. Percy was nowhere to be found, he must be waiting for her in the Athena cabin- the more reason she should go now.

Sabina led her to the Athena cabin, talking about random things on the way.

They finally reached their destination and Sabina knocked on the door.

A guy around her best friend's age opened the door and had the same height as Sabina. He got black hair and chinky dark brown eyes that radiated with intelligence. He was pale and skinny but she could tell that he was a very good swordsman and was tough. Over all, she must admit he looked cute. No wonder her best friend tensed at the sight of him and she swore she could hear the daughter of Zeus's heart beating frantically.

Charisse stifled a laugh. Her best friend was being obvious! The girl should calm down. She then put her hands and gripped Sabina's shoulders to calm her.

"Ah, hello," she said to the guy. "Mind if we go inside?"

"Not at all," the guy said and smiled at Sabina. Charisse could hear the girl's heart beat faster. What just happened was so funny and sweet. She had now a favorite couple that she'll support all her life- Sabina and whatever-the-name-of-that-guy-was.

When they reached the library, they saw everyone was there waiting for them.

"Why do we always have to wait for her?" she heard Clarisse grumbled. She honestly couldn't believe that her name and pronunciation was quite similar to the daughter of Ares who wore that scowl too often.

Percy shot Clarisse a look and she was grateful to have him as her older half-brother.

"Please sit," Chiron said. Sabina and Charisse sat on the two empty chairs and the trainer of heroes gestured for Annabeth to start. The daughter of Athena stood up and started explaining what she just discovered.

"I was reading Daedalus' documents and stumbled upon a folder that titled 'Future Theories'." Annabeth clicked the 'Documents' and after a dozen more folders, finally found what she was looking for. A lot of files appeared and she clicked one of them.

She scrolled down on the document and stopped on page ninety-eight.

Annabeth read it aloud, "I am sure years from now, probably a decade or so, things from Ancient Greece would be reincarnated and a new being would rise up again- something that I'm not very familiar of. All I know about that being is that he's half-titan and half-giant. In order for him to rise again, he needed the power of all the Twelve Olympians. They might probably steal the weapons in order to do so. Another theory I have in mind is that they will be lead by a monster created from a god's flesh and history will surely repeat itself. But this time, it'll be more dangerous. So many unexpected things are going to happen. A god will know what true love is and a fatal flaw can actually be a good thing and not a nuisance. To those people who are living during the generation of the unexpected things, my advice is that you should prepare for it so that it'll come less unexpected. But of course, there will always be things that you can't be prepared for or you can avoid. Always remember: history repeats itself."

Annabeth stopped and they were all silent, still processing what she just said. Daedalus was a genius; he already predicted this would happen. A half-titan and half-giant being sounded very dangerous and it might be powerful too since he needed the combined power of the weapons of the Twelve Olympians to rise again.

Excitement and fear started to build inside her heart as it beat fast. She couldn't wait for the quest to get started. This would surely be a great adventure.

Glancing at Sabina, she saw her eyes sparkling with excitement too. She was so happy she chose her best friend to accompany her on this quest.

After a lot more seconds of silence, Chiron was the first one to talk. "Good job Annabeth. Now we know something about this strange occurrence. I shall send Lord Zeus a letter about this." He then walked away- more like _galloped _away being a half-horse and all.

Annabeth just nodded but still stayed her eyes on the laptop, hoping to find more information. Yes, what she just told us gave us an idea but it was not enough information to know how to defeat this being.

Percy looked at all of us and said, "Go back to your cabins and do everything that'll make both your body and mind conditioned for this quest. This is very dangerous and I want everybody to be as ready as possible. We still have the day and will leave at exactly 5:30 AM tomorrow."

Everyone scrambled out of the Big House to do their own businesses but Charisse figured out that she needed to stay for awhile. Percy must've noticed that she wasn't doing anything that suggested she'd be leaving any minute now and approached her.

"Char," he said. "You need to go _now_."

His half-sister pouted. "But I want to help. There must be something that I can do. I want to know more about the enemy we're facing."

Percy sighed and said, "Char, Annabeth and I can do it by ourselves. You have more things to worry about. Like your training skills, is it enough to kill a monster? You also need to master your chosen weapon for you'd be clinging on it for dear life and will be your best friend in the battlefield. You should know it better than anyone else. You still have the day to train and enhance your skills. Go."

Charisse hated it when Percy said very logical and sensible things with a concerned-brotherly-tone. Everything that he pointed out made sense and she indeed needed to master the sticks.

With a sigh, she scrambled out of her seat and went out of the Big House.

A fresh cool early morning breeze greeted her senses when she stepped out. She could see some demigods jogging around camp, enjoying the morning. The Demeter kids were busy tending to their plants, the Apollo campers singing joyful songs with bright smiles plastered on their faces; the Hermes cabin pranking another innocent passerby, some Athena kids were reading books under the shade of a tree and she also saw some of her half-siblings enjoying the coldness of the sea. If waking up early was like this, maybe it wasn't that bad as she thought.

And then she remembered that this was practically the last day she'll see Camp Half-Blood since tomorrow they'll be going on a quest. Who knows when they'll be back and she wanted to feel the camp so that it would always stay in her mind.

She went to her cabin and found the beds empty. Everyone already left to enjoy the morning. Was it always like this every single day? No wonder they wake her up since it would be really embarrassing to find out that you were the only person in your cabin that was still sleeping. For the first time, she felt glad that her half-siblings kept breaking her up from the bed every six o' clock in the morning.

Snapping out of her thoughts, she immediately grabbed the two sticks. She loved it. It wasn't light but it wasn't that heavy either. If she was going to give a percentage it might be 35% light and 65% heavy.

The daughter of Poseidon stared at it for awhile. The sticks were the color of light brown but there were some sides of that it was one shade darker. That design made the stick more beautiful in her eyes. There were three black horizontal lines on the bottom that circled the whole sticks. She figured that was the part where she'll hold it. Gripping it tightly, she went to the lake where Will brought her and started training.

After thirty minutes of non-stop training, the girl took a ten minute break. She sat down on the grasses and grabbed her purple tumbler, drinking half of its contents. She let out a sigh of contentment, feeling energy surged back inside her body.

Closing her eyes, she rested her body for few minutes. After three minutes, she felt someone else's presence beside her, probably watching her sleep. She needed to stay cautious and to make immediate action just in case something happens. Concentrating hard on the moist on the grasses near the man, she willed them to surround the man's feet so that he wouldn't move once she open her eyes and escape. She also willed the waters on the lake to back her up. She opened her eyes and was about to drench the man in gallons of water when she realized who it was.

"Will?" she asked in disbelief. "What are you doing here?"

"Before I answer that, can you please remove the waters on my legs?" Will asked gazing down on his feet which were wet and tried moving them. "I can't move them."

Charisse laughed at Will's situation. "Sorry," she said and snapped. Instantly, the waters disappeared and the lake was calm once again. "I thought you were a kidnapper."

"I was watching you sleep," Will explained with a sigh but later on smiled. "Well at least you're being alert. You'll need it during the quest."

She nodded and asked, "So, what are you doing here?"

"Can't I visit my princess?" Will smirked at her.

She rolled her eyes in reply and didn't feel anything else. This was seriously weird. Ever since she met the god, her long time feelings for Will suddenly turned to air and disappeared.

"I'm serious, William Leon Hanson." She warned him.

He raised his hands up in defense and said, "Fine. I'm here to talk about the quest."

She sat down and the guy sat beside her and spoke, "Chiron told me that I'd be going with you and Sabina."

"Yeah."

"And I figured out that you don't have proper training yet and heard from Annabeth that you already found your weapon: _Kali _sticks right?"

"Yeah."

"Why didn't you tell me yesterday?" Will asked.

"What do you mean?" Charisse asked as she grasped the two _rattan_ sticks. Confusion could be seen on her face.

"Char," Will said as he took a deep breath, running his fingers through his hair. "I could've helped you out yesterday. You can't self-study martial arts!"

"Again Will," she asked as she grew impatient. Why wouldn't Will just spit out his point? Why wouldn't he just be straight forward? "What in the world are you pointing out?"

The son of Hermes took a deep breath before saying, "Well, I can teach you _Kali._"

What?! Charisse was taken aback with Will's statement that she almost fell.

"What? When? How? Why didn't you tell me? I could've like mastering it right now and shouldn't have wasted any time and effort yesterday!" She said in a rapid tone but Will still caught her words.

"Char," he said.

"Why did Annabeth tell me yesterday no one in camp can teach me _Kali_? Goodness Will." she continued.

"Char," he said once again and quipped in a louder voice. "Calm down!"

When he saw the girl calmed down he said, "One question at a time. When? I took _Arnis_ lessons when I was eight years old. How? My mom contacted an _Arnisador_, a professional _Arnis_ player to teach me. Why didn't I tell you? You never asked. Why did Annabeth tell you yesterday no one in camp can teach you _Kali? _I kept this a secret and just focused my skills in sword fighting. But it doesn't mean that I'm directing it to sword fighting that I'm no longer an expert in _Kali_. I was a senior belter once. And by the way, _Arnis _is another term of _Kali_."

She scoffed at the last sentence. "I already know that." And then she continued, "Wow, just plain wow. I never thought I'll see the day that Annabeth was wrong for once. Anyway, can you teach me _Guro _Will?"

_Guro _means teacher. It is a sign of respect to an _Arnis_ or _Kali_ teacher.

"Let's start with the six basic blocks and strikes." Will said in a tone that completely said _I know what I am doing so you better follow me. _"Let's start with the six basic strikes."

He demonstrated all of them. Number 1 was hitting the opponent's head but on your right side. Second was hitting the other side of the opponent's head. Number 1 and 2 strikes were used if you plan to hit your enemy on the temple.

Three was on the enemy's left knee, and to do it, you need to strike your stick diagonally. Four was on the other side with an upside down diagonal pattern this time.

Five was on the head- but this time it was on the middle and sixth was her most favorite part. She'll take one step backward with her right foot and bring it forward using the stick like a dagger; and stabbing the opponent on the stomach. She enjoyed it for that strike made her feel more confident on her weapon, that even if they were just simple wooden sticks they can still be used like a bladed weapon.

Next were the six basic blocks. It was similar to the strikes but this time, instead of striking the opponent, you're going to block the opponent's attacks. First was moving the stick few inches away from your face with the left hand guiding the stick to meet the opponent's attack on the right side of your temple. The second one was pretty much the same thing, except it was on the left side.

The third one was meeting the stick of the enemy but doing the strike#4 on the process. The fourth one was also the same as the third but you're going to do strike#3.

Fifth was putting the stick inches away from your head. The stick was in a straight horizontal line, meeting the opponent's strike on the middle of your head with your left hand blocking the force of the opponent. Sixth was similar as block number one except that you'll move your body away to prevent the stab and it was lower since the target was your stomach.

Will taught her dozen kinds of attacks in _Kali. _There was this stroke called _buhat araw _where you'll just drop the stick diagonally. They also did some exercises to enhance her 'striking' skills and to make her grip on the sticks tighter. They also took breaks every now and then and Charisse swore that when she'll look at herself early morning tomorrow, she'll find her face more circular than ever.

The day ended with her spending it with Will and didn't even care to the world outside that lake.

Around 5:00 in the afternoon, she exhaustedly lied on the bed and called it a day. She left her sticks on the bedside table and slept.

The next morning, she woke up at exactly 3:30 AM. She already prepared her things last night and the only thing she needed to do was to take a bath and have a last minute practice. A whole day wasn't enough for her to fully master her weapon. She needed more practice and of course, more time. It was really convenient that Will was going with her, they can train while travelling. At least a day was enough for her to know some tricks and techniques she'll be able to use when fighting monsters.

After taking a bath, she changed her clothes to a sky blue t-shirt that said "Freshen Up" and black jogging pants matched with her usual light purple rubber shoes. She also wore her mini backpack and went to get her weapon on the bedside table and realized it wasn't there.

She got alarmed and started searching for it, almost waking up her half-siblings. Where was it? She just put it on the bedside table last night before she slept. There was no way she misplaced it. Did someone steal it to annoy her? If so, they were insensitive enough to know that today was her quest and she'll need her weapon.

Realizing she'll be wasting her time by finding it alone, she went to the Hermes cabin to ask Will to help her. But before she could knock, Will opened the door and the two demigods collided and fell on the floor.

"Ow," Charisse whispered to herself. The impact was strong. She saw Will's outstretched hand in front of her and heard him apologizing. She stood up, not taking his outstretched hand since she could stand on her own, anyway.

"I'm really sorry," Will said, looking sincerely on her eyes.

The girl just smiled and said, "Apology accepted." She continued. "Anyway, have you seen the _Kali _sticks. I can't find them in my cabin."

The son of Hermes thought for awhile before realization dawned on his eyes. "Just a sec." And before Charisse could say anything, Will dashed inside.

He came back a minute later holding a silver necklace with two miniature sticks as charms. It was simple but beautiful.

"Wow," the daughter of Poseidon couldn't say anything at all. She loved simplicity and didn't like extravagance that much.

Will smiled at her. "Yeah, I know. Anyway, this is yours. Do you mind?" She completely understood him. He was asking for permission if he could put the necklace on her. She nodded and couldn't believe that Will was generous enough to give her such a breathtaking jewelry. She wasn't that fond of jewelries, for her they were just a waste of money and couldn't understand why people spent thousands just to buy them. But since it came from Will and it was really gorgeous, she accepted it whole heartedly; she almost forgot her missing sticks.

"It really suits you." Will smiled at her and she almost blushed on his stare.

"Thanks. By the way, have you seen my sticks?" she asked.

If it was possible, Will's smile grew bigger. "Yeah, I'm looking at them right now."

Huh? She looked around and asked, "Where?" That made Will laugh. She raised an eyebrow at him, wondering if the man in front of her was insane. He was laughing for no reason at all!

He was already holding his tummy before he stopped and said. "That. Was. Hilarious." And then he continued chuckling.

Charisse grew impatient; she had wasted two minutes of her life watching the guy laugh in front of her. She raised her hands in frustration and turned to leave when Will got her wrist, stopping her. She turned to glare at him and was met up with his lopsided grin.

"I'm serious. I'm looking at it now." He said.

Charisse followed his gaze and realized he was looking on the necklace that he had given her. She held one of the miniature sticks and grasped it, accidentally removing it on the process. Wha-And then it turned to a 2 feet and 4 inches stick.

Realization sank in. She remembered one time when Percy told her that some of the weapons of the demigods could turn to ordinary things or jewelries. He even showed her that his sword, _Anaklusmos _can turn to a pen that he always put on his pocket. Now, she felt happy. Her weapon could turn to a necklace.

"Thank you. Where did you get these?" she asked at him as she also took the other miniature stick and watched as it transform. Even if she was amazed with it, she still noticed Will's big smile turning to a deep frown.

"Well," he said. "It was a gift from Dad."

She froze. A dozen questions started swimming in her mind. This came from Hermes? Why did he give it to her? How did he get her sticks and suddenly make it a necklace?

She pressed the head of the stick; out of habit and suddenly sharp blades appeared on the end.

Out of shock, she dropped the stick but immediately got it. She couldn't believe it. She meant small sharp blades at the end of a stick? It looked like a club! She swung it around and could hear a sound as it rip through the air. She hated to admit it, but this gift was truly awesome. _Thank you Lord Hermes. _She mentally said.

"Char?" he asked worriedly. He must've been shock with her behavior earlier.

"I'm okay," she said and looked at him. "Say, how did you know these were from your father?"

"A letter came with it," Will said and immediately got a piece of paper from his pocket. "I found this letter with the necklace on my bedside table when I woke up."

She opened the letter and read its contents. It was for Will, asking him to give the necklace to her. It was also stated on the letter that while she was sleeping last night, he grabbed it and asked Hephaestus to do some things with the stick. He made the stick harder and sturdier like a metal and made an invisible button at the end of the handle to let the hidden blades come out.

As she read, there was a post script at the end of the letter. _P.S: I know that you'll let Charisse read this so here's my message for her. It cost me quite a lot to make those sticks perfect for battle. _She raised an eyebrow. Was he asking her to pay him? She continued. As if reading her thoughts, the letter said _No, I'm not asking you to pay me. All I ask is that you take good care of it. Till we meet again Charisse. Enjoy my gift. _

She handed back the letter to Will and casted her eyes on the ground, suddenly having an interest on her purple shoes. She could imagine how the god looked like when he was writing those words and it was ridiculous. How could she imagine him so vividly like she knew him too well? Why was her heart beating fast? Why did she feel like her face was blushing? She touched her cheeks and felt heat. Oh goodness Charisse! What was happening to her? He just asked the blacksmith of the gods to fix her weapon to be more suitable for battle. Nothing more… But it was enough to make her so happy.

Will coughed. "Anyway, it's already 5:00 AM. We got to get going."

She nodded, feeling so light and happy. "How do I turn these back to a necklace?" she asked.

"Just put the end of the sticks to the ground and it'll automatically turn back to a necklace." He explained.

She did what he said and the sticks magically disappeared and reappeared as a necklace on her neck. "Awesome," she muttered and followed Will to the entrance of Camp Half-Blood, where The Chosen Twelve with their companions will meet.

When they got there, almost everyone was waiting. It was already 5:05 A.M.

"Finally you're here!" Xierra exclaimed as she dashed to give her a hug. She opened her arms and let her best friend hug her. "Goodness! I feel so alone earlier in here. Everyone is just so nervous or bored! The exact opposite of what I'm feeling. I mean, I'm _so _excited! This is going to be _so _fun!"

Charisse rolled her eyes at Xierra's enthusiasm but it made her smile. "Well, I'm here."

The daughter of Zeus pulled back and put some of her bangs away from her face. "You wouldn't believe who my companion is!" she exclaimed. Xierra was always such a girl, very cheerful and kept Charisse updated on the latest gossip both in camp and the outside world.

"Who?"she asked.

"Will." She said and noticed Will beside Charisse. "I mean, Will Solace. You know the counselor of the Apollo cabin. I can't believe he agreed to go with me."

"Ok, so who'll be the counselor while Will Solace is gone?" she asked.

Xierra shrugged. "Some random Apollo kid. I forgot his name. Anyway, he told me that Lord Apollo asked him to go with me on this quest, to protect me. I can't believe the sun god will do that for me!" She sighed happily. "I'm in a state of euphoria right now." She giggled. Wow, she was such a cheerful person, too cheery for her own good.

While she babbled on about how Apollo was so handsome, Charisse searched for her other companion, Sabina. Where was she? It was already 5:20 A.M.! Sabina was never late. Something must've happened.

Chiron came and asked, "Are you all complete?"

"No Sir," Charisse said. "Sabina is not yet here."

"Find her." Chiron said simply and the girl dashed off to look for her best friend. Where could she be? She wondered. She checked the Zeus cabin first but Sabina's half-siblings told her that she already left minutes ago.

After few minutes, she took a break. And where else would she feel relaxed just by staying there for ten seconds? The beach! She went to the direction of the beach and before she could relax, she saw two figures talking. She scooted closer and saw that it was Sabina and… the guy from the Athena cabin!

Eavesdropping was wrong but she was too curious to care. She found some good hiding place that had a great view and near enough to hear their conversation.

Sabina and the son of Athena were sitting side by side, enjoying each other's company and the early morning sea breeze. They were talking happily and by the time Charisse reached them, it looked like the light mood earlier was gone, replaced by a heavy one.

"Promise me you'll stay safe," the demigod of Athena said, looking at the daughter of Zeus's eyes.

"Don't be such a worry head and care more about yourself." Sabina grinned and then she turned serious. "I promise I'll be careful, Ross."

So, the name of the Athena kid was Ross. Charisse made a mental note to think about the 'pet' name for her favorite couple.

Silence engulfed the two. After a few seconds, Ross spoke, "Sabina, I… I'd like to tell you something."

The girl looked at Ross, quite startled with the seriousness of his tone and expression. "What is it?" she asked.

Charisse had read or seen dozens of books and movies where the main protagonist and his love interest have a scene or moment like this. She was fully aware what would happen next and thinking of these made her want to squeal. But she restrained herself. She might ruin the moment.

She must admit she hated it when young people get engage into a relationship. They were still too young for those kinds of things and should enjoy their lives as children! But, she was open to the idea for the youngsters to have a crush, nothing more than that. So now, she hoped that Sabina and Ross won't be going to the relationship stage and will just stay on the mutual understanding stage until they were old enough.

"It's been a long time now," Ross started. "And I'm finding the perfect timing to tell you. And I figured out that if I'm not going to tell you right now, I'll regret it for the rest of my life." He looked into her eyes as he continued, "I-"

Before the guy could continue, Sabina suddenly stood up, her eyes looking intently on her electric blue watch. "I can't believe it's already 5:30 A.M.!" Turning to the guy beside her with apologetic eyes, she said, "Ross, I'm so sorry but I've got to go. Can you just tell me another time?"

"But-" Ross started but Sabina was already leaving. "I'm so sorry! I got to go!" she said loudly and ran away.

Charisse stayed for awhile, completely aware that she'll get scolded but who cares? She needed to know more about what Ross was going to say- though she already knew what it was.

Ross sighed and quietly murmured to himself, "I really like you Sabina."

That was her cue to leave and tiptoed quietly out of the beach area and ran.

By the time she reached the meeting place, it was already 5:40 A.M. _Good job Charisse, you made everyone wait. _She thought to herself.

"Sorry I'm late!" she apologized and realized the only people who were still there were Percy, Annabeth, Grover, Xierra, Will Solace, Will Hanson, Sabina and Chiron. The others already left.

"Due to some unexpected circumstances," Chiron said. "We let the other groups leave already."

The daughter of Poseidon bowed her head in shame. This was what she gets for minding other people's business. But at least, she knew something other people don't.

She felt a hand pat her shoulder. She looked up and saw it was Percy, giving her a smile that said _It's alright. _She replied with a warm smile and felt instantly better.

"It's pretty late, you need to get going," Chiron said. They all nodded and left.

Charisse stayed behind and took one last look at Camp Half-Blood, trying to memorize it for she felt like it would be a really long time before she'll see it once again.

Chiron must've sensed her hesitation for he just smiled at her and said, "You can do it Charisse. Good luck."

The girl nodded and gave the trainer of heroes a smile before turning her back, running to catch up with her friends who were waiting for her. The next days were going to be hard and dangerous and she could feel adrenaline pumping in her veins.

* * *

><p><strong>I hope you enjoyed the chapter. I purposely made it longer. :) R&amp;R!<strong>

**Btw, I'm looking for a critic to check on my work. To be completely honest with me in regards to the plot development and the characters and many more. Just PM me if you're interested! I'll be asking some questions. Thank you! :)**


	8. Home Sweet Home

**Author's Notes:**

**Hello! I now present to you chapter 7! :)**

**I also have a blog at Wordpress . c o m! It'll be just full of book reviews, things worth sharing about and articles I've written about life. I hope you'll check it out. :)**

**The link is: www. theteenpreneurwriter .wordpress . c o m**

**Thank you. **

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything at all!**

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 7 – Home Sweet Home<strong>

This day, Charisse learned three things: they'll be going to her home country; she seriously missed home and even if she hated to admit it, she enjoyed the company of a specific god when she couldn't sleep that night. Thinking about the latter part made her want to bang her head.

They were inside a van and Argus, the hundred eye man, was the driver. Charisse didn't know where they were going and it was silent inside. Annabeth was beside her and then it was Percy and Grover. Behind them were Sabina, Will Solace, Will and Xierra. She wanted to talk to Annabeth about some things but the daughter of Athena was busy thinking, probably about the prophecy.

She sighed and just looked outside the window. She let her thoughts wander for awhile and thought about the prophecy. It said on the first few lines that they should be going to a country known for being the 'Pearl Orient' where they'll basically find a cave that's really beautiful with twelve passages inside. She already heard that term before and it sure annoyed her that she couldn't remember it. _Think Charisse, _she told herself. _Think. _But her mind refused but since she was determined to know why it sounded familiar, she thought harder until her head hurt. She needed to pause for awhile and continue her thinking later.

But she didn't have to think about it any longer.

Annabeth suddenly spoke, "I finally figured it out!"

They all turned to her and the girl continued. "The prophecy said that we're going in a country known for being the 'Pearl Orient' and I know where that is. It's the Philippines !"

That was why it sounded familiar! It was the other name of her home country. Charisse smiled. She couldn't wait to go back and visit her family. She'll finally be able to show Percy how beautiful the beaches were!

She turned to Xierra and Will and they were all grinning like crazy. She could tell they were thinking about the same thing, _home sweet home!_

Argus dropped them off in _New York International Airport _and rode the airplane. Charisse sat again beside the window and Percy was beside her, then Annabeth and Sabina. Behind them were Will, Grover, Will Solace and Xierra.

She could feel Percy tensed beside her and she could also feel her own nervousness. She had never ridden an airplane before. Like _ever. _Just by the sight of them, her body will grow tense and very uncomfortable like riding a plane was a bad idea for her. Percy told her one time that all demigods of Poseidon felt that way since this was Zeus's domain and hundreds of feet above the sky that you can only see clouds. Being away from the sea was hard for them. That was why she was at least glad that Percy was beside her. At least she knew that she wasn't alone.

At first, the idea of riding an airplane to Philippines was a very bad idea especially for them. Charisse kept arguing that she and Percy will just take a boat and operate it fast through the Pacific Ocean to reach their destination but all of their friends said otherwise. The airplane was safer and faster and there were two kids of Zeus on their group, they'll feel seasick and will have a hard time breathing.

The daughter of Poseidon hated arguing, but she was determined to _not _ride an airplane and to get her fellow members on a boat. She and Xierra, her opponent in this debate to whether ride an airplane or not, almost wanted to rip each other's heads off even if they were best friends because of the intense fight. They were already shouting. That was what you get when you let two hotheads and daughters of not-that-in-good-terms fathers, bicker. It reached to the point that they were about to use their demigod powers against the other. _That _was how stubborn they were and how determined they were to get what they wanted.

Charisse almost laughed as she remembered the fight. It wasn't ridiculous, that was sure because the cause of the fight was their hatred in being in the territory of their 'frenemy' parents.

It was only Annabeth who stopped the fight with an intelligent answer. "Stop!" she yelled and they did. Seawater were circling Charisse's hands as she was about to drench Xierra while the daughter of Zeus's hands were full of sparkling bolts and was about to electrocute the daughter of Poseidon. The two of them back down and gave the other cold shoulders.

"This is very stupid!" Annabeth scolded them. "That's very childish of the two of you! I can't believe you're fighting over such a ridiculous thing as transportation. You know what; it's safer to take the airplane."

"But-"Charisse started. Riding an airplane will be one of her worst nightmares. Annabeth cut her off. "No buts. We will all be riding the airplane and that's final!"

"What if Zeus zap the plane since Charisse and I were both inside?" Percy asked. Charisse shot him a grateful look. _Thanks Bro. _

His girlfriend sighed. "Look, Perce, how will Zeus zap the plane if two of his daughters are with us, especially Sabina who is, may I remind you, his representative? Will he zap us? No. He doesn't want to kill his own children too."

That sure made sense.

Charisse looked behind her where Xierra was sitting and the girl gave her a smile. She replied with another one. The two of them were in good terms once again. They were best friends after all. They both understand each other how they were just fighting for their own sake and that stupid reason shall not ruin their years of friendship. Besides, it looked like Xierra won the argument.

The girl sighed and gripped the arm rests. This was going to be a really long flight and torture. _Good luck to me. _She told herself.

After 18 hours and 55 minutes:

After seeing millions of fluffy white clouds that seriously made Charisse annoyed, she finally caught sight of her home country. She heard a woman spoke on the speakers that they'll be landing in ten minutes and they should prepare. At the sight of land, her heart jumped in joy. Finally! She'll be able to see colors other than white and blue!

Her sore body finally relaxed. She'll finally get out of this torture place. The only thing that made her comfortable in this place was the comfort room since there was water inside.

She looked at her half-brother and noted how he relaxed too. Just a few more minutes and they'll be out.

Charisse started thinking of the things she'll do once she got out. One thing was sure, as soon as she gets out and had bottled water in hand; she'll throw it on her face to celebrate and also to feel energized. So she did.

When they got out of the plane and were going to the Hanson's family van, Will distributed some burgers and drinks. The guy was seriously rich. The Hanson family owned a company and most of their businesses were notable. He could even afford to study in _Wilhelm__ University _where kids of the most successful business people in the whole country and politicians study. And yet, he chose to study on a simple Catholic private school, _St. Aloysius Catholic School _which was a small institution with only 500 students from kinder to high school.

Will handed her bottled water, knowing that she only drink sodas in occasion and opened it before throwing all of its contents on her face. It was so cold and the water made her feel refreshed she closed her eyes in happiness.

She was surprised to see bottled water in front of her when she opened her eyes and raised an eyebrow at Will. The guy grinned. "I figured out that you'll do that, that's why I bought another one just in case you really did." She nodded and smiled at him gratefully before enjoying the burger.

They saw an ice blue luxurious van at the distance and Charisse instantly knew it belonged to the Hansons.

A man greeted them with all smiles and the girl recognized him. It was George, Will's uncle. "Hey Will," he said as he caught sight of the guy. "Hey Charisse!" he greeted at her next. She waved back at him with a smile before climbing into the van.

The travel was fun. Charisse just kept on watching different videos of _Ryan Higa _in the mini screen in front of her and she'll randomly laugh in occasions. What could she do? The guy was seriously hilarious! She always liked funny guys- maybe to contrast her own serious one.

The others didn't mind her laughter since they were basically busy in their own businesses.

They arrived in San Aloysius in an hour and noticed that the clouds were a stormy gray. Uncle George said that there'll be heavy rains tonight and they needed to stay for awhile. Since Charisse and Xierra's house weren't that big with only one guest room, they decided that Will Solace will stay at Xierra's while Sabina will stay at Charisse's. The remaining people will stay with Will in his big two story house since they have a lot of guest rooms. The van halted to a stop in front of Xierra's house and she, with Will Solace, climbed down and into her house. Heavy rain fell down and the daughter of Zeus and son of Apollo immediately ran inside for cover.

Came next Charisse's home and she climbed down from the van, followed by Sabina. They waved goodbye. They'll just stay for the night and as soon as the weather gets better, they'll leave immediately.

Thanks for being a daughter of Poseidon the girl had no problem when it was raining- no matter how strong it was. She simply climbed out of the van and snapped to make a barrier around Sabina so that she wouldn't get wet too. The representative of Zeus gave her a smile and she replied with another one as they went inside.

Charisse could smell the delicious scent of one of her most favorite soups in the world- _sopas. Sopas _was a Filipino food which was a hot soup with milk, carrots, strips of chicken meat, cabbage and a lot more ingredients and seasonings. She loved eating it whenever it rains since she loved the feeling of the heat, going down in her throat towards her stomach. It seriously gave her comfort. And this Filipino food was one of her mom's specialties.

The daughter of Poseidon felt excited. See her home once again, meet her mom and her maternal grandparents and most of all, have the opportunity to eat her mom's delicious cooking. The foods at camp were great, but it was nothing when it came to her mom's cooking. This was her _real _home. She wished one day, she'll be as great as her mom.

Sabina was busy looking around in awe. The girl noted that it must be her best friend's first time to see a Filipino-styled home. She saw her approached a wall and looked at her pictures as she grew up- class pictures, graduation pictures, even the honors, medals and certificates she received when she joined competitions or when she was one of the best students in class.

It was the old days.

The fifteen year old girl turned her attention back to the kitchen. She was wondering what she would say to her mom. When she made up her mind, she turned to Sabina and said, "Stay here in the living room for awhile. I'm going to talk to my mom."

The Chinese girl gave her a nod and she left.

In the kitchen, the delicious scent was tastier than ever and she could see the source of that smell, sitting on the stove and a quite chubby woman in late forties standing in front of it, stirring in the casserole where she was cooking the soup. She saw the almost the same black hair as hers (hers was a bit darker), now with few white streaks due to old age; that familiar built and dark brown eyes Charisse inherited and most of all, the light brown skin that ran in their family.

Overall, the daughter of Poseidon was the younger version of her mom and she loved it.

When the woman put the glass cover of the casserole back on it and washed her hands, she turned her back and Charisse saw the shock in the same eyes she have.

"Charisse?" the woman asked as she approached her and touched her arms and looked at her all over, not believing what she was seeing and hugged her. "It really is you! I miss you, _anak._"

_Anak is a Filipino term that parents use to sometimes call their kids. _

The girl hugged back her mother with a smile on her face. "Hi mom, I miss you too."

After the wonderful reunion between a mother and her daughter, they went to the dining room to prepare for an early dinner. It was already a custom in their family to eat dinner at exactly 6:00 P.M. even if the sun haven't set yet.

Charisse called Sabina to eat _sopas _and the daughter of Zeus sat on the table, still familiarizing herself around. She softly laughed at her best friend's bewildered expression as she left to visit her maternal grandparents and also called them to eat dinner.

After the dinner, Charisse felt refreshed. She seriously missed home. She was also glad that Sabina wasn't sensitive in what she eats; she was open to the idea of trying new things. The daughter of Zeus told her that her mother's cooking was superb and she'd like to try other Filipino dishes too.

She went to the living room and sat on the couch with her phone in hand. She just used it when she was in her home and for emergency purposes only. She heard the loud ring as she waited for him to answer her call. After a few seconds, he did and he heard his quite deep voice asked, "Hello?"

"Will!" She exclaimed.

"Hey Char," he said and she could imagine him saying that with a smile. "What's up?"

She looked at the window and saw that the clouds were very dark and rain still continued falling- heavier than before. She could also see lightning flashed and heard the rumbled of the thunder as it boomed. "The weather's not good."

"Yeah."

"Do you think we should stay here for the night and hoped tomorrow will be good?"

"I think so. Wait a minute, I'll tell the others and ask for their opinions."

"Ok."

Will hanged up but a few seconds later, he called. "Annabeth said it's a great idea. We'll all stay here for the night and tomorrow we'll resume. Honestly, I think even without the stormy weather, Annabeth will still find a way for us to spend the night here. She's seriously enjoying the guest room and the library of our house, claiming it's one of the best places ever."

She laughed at that. "I bet so too. I'm not surprised she took a liking on the library and the luxurious guest rooms. I mean, your library is really huge and the guest rooms are so elegant I want to sleep in there forever."

She heard Will mumbled something so soft that no ordinary human being would be able to hear it. But since she was a demigod, she heard it clearly. He whispered, "You can sleep here forever since it's meant to be yours…"

She got shocked and didn't understand what the guy just said. Meant to be hers? That was crazy. Her demigod hearing must be malfunctioning.

"Did you say something?" she asked.

"Yeah, I said '_Bingi ka!'_" Will said loudly on the end.

_Bingi ka means "You're deaf!" in Filipino._

"Oh, you just didn't say that," she warned him, daring him to continue speaking about it.

"Oh, yes I did." She could imagine Will saying that with a devilish grin in his face. "_Bingi ka!_" He repeated._  
><em>

"That's it! I'm hanging up!" She exclaimed irritably and tapped the "End" button. Jeez, she hated it when Will was in the mood to annoy her.

So they would be staying here for the night and she was happy. She missed sleeping in her room, feel the soft bed and the comfy pillows… Ah, what a paradise for her. She talked to her mom about this and she gave Sabina the guest room.

She went to her own room, an average sized place with different inspirational quotations and motivational poems plastered on the walls. Her most favorite was the motivational poem at her door titled "Don't Quit". It was really beautiful and she always recite that poem whenever she was struggling in life and was in the point of giving up. She would admit, it helped her a lot.

There was still her study table complete with a mini library of books at the top. The room was clean; her mom must have cleaned it while she was in camp.

After taking a long bath to relax and changing into a loose T-shirt and PJ pants, she combed her dry hair (she controlled the waters in her hair towards the sink making it dry) and threw her body on the bed. God knew how much she missed doing that.

She sighed in happiness feeling the comfy bed and hugged a pillow tighter. And she fell asleep due to exhaustion.

_One thing was sure, she was having this nightmare once again. For the second time. She thought she already got rid of it since she felt like it was weeks ago since she had this nightmare. But she was wrong. _

_She found herself once again in a blurry place. She didn't understand why everything was in a blur when she was wearing her glasses. She only see things like this when she wasn't wearing them for being near-sighted. But despite of that, she could see sands around her and her feet felt their rough texture. _

_She suddenly closed her eyes and heard that evil laugh once again that made the hairs on her arms stand. _

"_You won't be able to catch me, foolish blood of the pharaoh!" the same voice that laughed said. _

_Blood of the pharaoh? These four words were very familiar to her, like they held something very important in her past. And what did it mean anyway? And she was a demigod, not blood-whatever-that-was! _

_Then, still eyes closed, she let herself fall on the sandy floor and took a nap. What the? Jeez. Why did she just take a nap? She should like stand up, get her weapons and taunt whoever that was who was insulting her! _

"_You can't escape me even if you fall asleep, fool," the man said as he appeared in front of her. She knew this because she could make out a figure of a very tall man near her. What the man said was true; whoever was controlling her in this nightmare was a fool. _

_She felt her right hand went directly to her watch. _

"_Come here, my dear, don't be afraid. I just need you and that Will guy to join our group against the gods," the man said. Was this guy seriously recruiting her? She thought he was going to kill her! He was insane. _

"_Sorry," she heard herself say. "I decline." _

You better be, dream-state-that-I-can't-control. _Charisse (the one who was having the nightmare) thought grudgingly in her mind. _

_She saw the man's eyes flared for she could make out flames. _

"_You asked for it, girl. Now, your best friend will die!" he said and a sound of a familiar girl's scream reached her ears. No… This couldn't be happening… That was Xierra's scream… How dare he do this to her?_

_Her best friend's scream kept ringing and ringing in her mind making her more furious. Xierra was dying and it was all because of this man in front of her. _

_She touched a mini button in her purple watch and it turned to a three-foot long celestial bronze sword with a purple hilt. The conscious Charisse looked at it and remembered seeing it before but couldn't define where and when. She also took note in her mind how the rattan sticks she had for Arnis were more comfortable in her hand than this sword. Then she attacked him. _

_And just like the first time she had this nightmare, her dream ended before her sword even reached the man._

She woke up, breathing heavily and clutching the bed sheets tightly her knuckles almost turned white. _Calm down, Charisse. _She told herself. _It was just a nightmare. _

She just stayed there, lied on the bed, trying to steady her heart and her breathing. She could still hear Xierra's scream and it made her restless even if she knew it was all just a dream and her best friend was safe in her house, sleeping peacefully in her room- which by the way, she should do now since she still have a quest to continue tomorrow.

Sleeping should come easy to her since she loved it; it was one of the things that made her happy. But right now, it was out of the question. It was weird since she _never _had insomnia. She opened her eyes and just stared at the white ceiling of her room while listening to the heavy rain outside. The storm was still here and if they were lucky, it'll be gone tomorrow.

She sighed and thought of different things and it instinctively went to her quest. _No, Charisse, you're _not _going to worry about the quest. _She scolded herself. _Everything will run smoothly and cross the bridge when you get there. _

Then it went about how happy she was to be back here- even just for a night. This life she have tonight was the life she grew up into. These were tokens to her once normal life, without monsters, demigods and most of all, a particular god who made her whole self confused.

How was he? She wondered. And what was this beating in her heart whenever she thought of him? It must be because of guilt. She didn't know why but she felt like she should at least show some gratitude for helping her. Right, it was only a guilt but her heart seemed unconvinced.

She sighed once again and felt this longing for his presence even if she knew she shouldn't. She meant, she just met him few days ago, and they were completely out of their leagues. He was this big Olympian and she was just this small mere demigod. These were enough reasons why she shouldn't look for him. She mentally scolded herself and stopped thinking about him.

And then she suddenly heard someone whispered in a scary voice as if that person was in a horror movie, "Boo!"

She immediately screamed and got out of the bed with sticks in hand. Thank goodness for her reflexes and for the rain outside.

"Who are you? Show yourself!" she glared at her surroundings, gripping the batons tightly and then she heard a laugh.

"You never change." Someone said and a man materialized in front of her. He was two years older than her, with curly black hair, mischievous brown eyes, fair skin and elfish features. She knew it was Hermes.

"Hermes?" she asked in confusion as she put the end of the sticks on the ground and it turned back to a necklace. "What are you doing here?"

"Nice clothes," He grinned at her and she felt heat creeping out in her cheeks.

"Shut up," she said and didn't care for a fact that she was talking to a god. Silence engulfed them as the two stared at each other's eyes, having a staring competition and no one wanted to lose to the other. She noted the bluish eyes of the god in front of her- as blue as the sky. It fitted perfectly with his ears that were slightly pointed and the fairness of his skin that was so vibrant and looked perfectly toned. She reminded herself that she should stop noting on his appearance and that all gods were perfect-looking.

She cleared her throat and looked away to stop herself from further observing the god's new look; and before she could change her mind, she whispered, "Thank you."

"For what?" he asked as he suddenly appeared beside her, leaning casually on the wall.

Charisse almost screamed again in surprise and covered her mouth from doing so. She knew if she did, it'll give satisfaction to the god. But it was too late. The guy must have read her mind for he laughed at her.

"Will you stop that? You're going to give me a heart attack!" Charisse almost screamed at him in annoyance. Who wouldn't anyway? Try having insomnia in the middle of the night with this annoying guy who'll suddenly pop out anywhere around you!

"Aw, is my representative getting angry?" he mocked her as he suddenly appeared, sitting on her bed.

"Get out of my bed!" She gritted her teeth. She kept chanting to herself to calm down but this guy was mocking her!

"If you say so," he said and then popped exactly in front of her; they were so close to each other only few inches were separating them. She stood on her ground and looked up at the guy, daring him to get closer so that she could give him a really painful slap. She didn't care for the fact that the guy was four inches and a half taller than her and ignored the loud beating of her heart. She wouldn't let this guy get into her.

After a few more seconds of having a stare down, the guy laughed and the daughter of Poseidon raised an eyebrow at him. Why was he laughing again this time?

"You sure are very funny," he just said with that lopsided grin still plastered on his angelic face. The girl almost wanted to bang her head on the table because of the thoughts that were running in her mind.

Ignoring his comment since it would be a waste of time if she'll contradict his idea, she cleared her throat and whispered, "Thank you for innovating my weapon. I really appreciate it."

"Did you say something?" Hermes asked with a grin. The girl rolled her eyes. She knew the guy heard it perfectly and was just feeding his ego since she thanked him. "Hermes." She said seriously. "I'm pretty sure you heard it correctly."

"Chill!" he immediately said and raised his hands up in defense when he saw she was almost boiling. He better be.

The girl took a deep breath and her annoyance was gone, before nodding. She asked in a serious tone, "Again, what are you doing here?"

"I just want to check up on you," Hermes said seriously and Charisse knew he wasn't joking anymore. "How's the quest going on so far? What are you feeling?"

Charisse went to the bed and sat on it, leaning on the wall. She always slept on a bed beside the wall since she always unconsciously falls on the floor.

"Well, the quest is really cool. It's an honor to be in a mission to find an Olympian weapon." She said honestly.

"And yet you thought that Apollo and especially I are crazy," Hermes said with that grin.

The daughter of Poseidon slightly blushed. "H-How did you know that?" she demanded and mentally slapped herself for stuttering on the first word.

"Let's just say," Hermes said. "That I can almost read what's going on in your mind since you're transparent- you let other people know what you are thinking and feeling with your expressions. You're an open window that makes everyone knows who you are."

"Like right now," he continued. "You're wondering why the heck I know that."

Her jaw almost dropped open. He was serious! He even used the _exact _same words she had in her mind!

"And now you're really surprised that I can, indeed, almost read your mind." He smirked at her.

"How can you know?" she asked.

"Well if you're confused or wondering, your eyebrows are scrunched together and your lips in a line, showing off your dimples." Hermes explained, "And when you're really surprised, those dark brown eyes of yours widen a little and your jaw will slightly drop open."

"You sure are very observant," Charisse noted, wondering how the god noticed that and continued. "To answer your questions earlier, I feel very excited and at the same time nervous. What if I mess up? What if because of me every one of us will fail? It was crazy." She admitted with a sigh and looked at Hermes who was now beside her. Only a few inches were the space between them and she could hear his steady breathing making her feel more relaxed. What was happening to her? Why was she opening up to a stranger? Why did she feel so comfortable and relaxed when she was with him? Why was her heart beating so fast right now?

The guy looked back at her. "Don't worry Char, you can do it. You won't mess up and this quest will be successful. You're a powerful demigod, you have a lot of abilities and potential you're not very much aware of. May I?" he asked as he gestured for her hand. She nodded and felt the guy's strong hands gripped hers in a comforting manner and then she felt his warm thumbs circling her palms. "Trust me; everything's going to be alright."

She mentally sighed in contentment. She felt so happy and peaceful her eyelids were already dropping. If this was what she needed just to get back to sleep after having a nightmare, maybe having the annoying god beside her was okay.

A few seconds later, Charisse closed her eyes and was prepared to go to sleep when she remembered something. She opened her eyes and looked at Hermes before speaking once again. "Swear that you're not going to do anything to me while I'm sleeping."

Hermes laughed and she could see amusement in his blue eyes. "Do you honestly think a god like me will do such a stupid thing?"

It made sense but the girl just wanted to make sure. "Swear it!" she said forcefully.

"Fine," Hermes said. "I swear to the River Styx that I'm not going to do anything to you while you're sleeping." Thunder boomed outside.

Feeling satisfied, Charisse lied on the bed and closed her eyes. Hermes still continued massaging her hand.

The heavy storm outside turned to a simple rain and she could hear the soft _plip plops _hitting the roof beside her room. It was very soothing and what Hermes was doing to her left hand added to the comfort she was feeling. She felt so relaxed, hearing the rain, the steady breathing of Hermes, his touch on her hand and the fast beating of her heart. Because of these things, she then fell asleep.

Maybe the annoying god wasn't _that_ bad after all.

* * *

><p><strong>Preview For The Next Chapter: <strong>

When she woke up the next day, she immediately turned to her left side and saw Hermes wasn't there anymore. She felt warm and realized that a blanket was draped on her body. She yawned and had a really great sleep last night. She really had a wonderful time when she and Hermes were talking… wait a minute. Did she just talk to Hermes last night? WHAT?!

She immediately sat up. What the heck?! All of the events last night went in her mind. She felt her whole face turn red. She buried her face in her pillow in embarrassment. Did she honestly show that guy how weak she was? Oh good Lord! Kill her now please!

**And Another One! **

Suddenly, she felt someone was watching her and she looked around wildly. There wasn't anyone in the room other than the receptionist who was busy using the computer in front of her.

She immediately stood up and went outside of the hotel to fight whoever was following her without mortals seeing it, which was a big mistake.

Her heart was beating fast. Where were the others? What took them so long in packing up their things? She tried to calm herself. There was definitely someone trailing her and it wasn't good. She was alone. She shouldn't have left the hotel room or at least went with someone.

She reached the nearest beach on the hotel thanking God that Pangasinan have a lot of beaches. Around here, she felt safer since this was her territory as a daughter of Poseidon. She hadn't mastered her skills on water yet, but she knew enough to protect herself.

Adrenaline pumped in her veins as she waited for the one who was trailing her on the beach. The waves were crushing on her knees and it made her stronger, ready to fight.

**And One Last Sneak Peek! ;)**

Charisse tried her best to stop herself from rolling her eyes. He was such a narcissistic god she couldn't believe her best friend fell for him!

"Now I see what my best friend saw in you," Apollo quipped with his eyes on hers. He was checking her out. The daughter of Poseidon took deep breaths; she wanted to hit the god in front of her with her sticks repeatedly. No one, as in _no one _could do that to her. For her, it was a sign of disrespect. But the guy in front of her was a god, an Olympian to be exact and she didn't want to be in his bad side. _Patience Charisse, _she told herself.

She said a few seconds later, "Um, Sir-"

"Just Apollo," the god interrupted with a blinding smile that innocent was the wrong word to describe it.

"-Apollo," she continued. "Can I ask what are you doing here?"

"I can't leave a damsel in distress to fight eight hellhounds, can I?" he winked at her when he said that and it made her mentally scowl. She, a damsel in distress? Puh-lease. And he basically didn't fight at all! He had no right to say that. And that wink was just so flirty it made her mentally puke in disgust.

**What To Expect For The Next Chapter: **

-More teasers about the enemy they're facing.

-An action scene! It'll be my first time to write one so I hope it'll end up well. :) Charisse will now be using her rattan sticks in battle. Aren't you excited?

-Apollo will come to aid them in their quest.

**That's all! R&R! :)**


	9. Travelling in Apollo's Chariot

**Author's Notes:**

**Hey everyone! So what's your favorite part in The House of Hades? Mine is Leo and Calypso! *squeals***

**I'll be posting two chapters in this story because… well I just want to. Hahaha. Though I can't promise that I'll be able to update fast for Chapter 10. **

**Anyway, enjoy reading! **

**Disclaimer: Don't own anything!**

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 8 – Travelling in Apollo's Chariot<strong>

When Charisse woke up the next day, she immediately turned to her left side and saw Hermes wasn't there anymore. She felt warm and realized that a blanket was draped around her body. She yawned and had a really great sleep last night. She really had a wonderful time when she and Hermes were talking… wait a minute. Did she just talk to Hermes last night? WHAT?!

She immediately sat up. What the heck?! All of the events that night went in her mind. She felt her whole face turn red. She buried her face in her pillow in embarrassment. Did she honestly show that guy how weak she was? Oh good Lord! Kill her now please!

A knock was suddenly heard, interrupting her thoughts of thinking possibilities to hide herself from the world. "Char?" It was Sabina.

She stood up and opened the door. The daughter of Zeus was wearing an electric blue t-shirt and pants. "Breakfast is ready-"Sabina started saying when she suddenly stared at Charisse's face and put her hands on both of her cheeks. "Are you alright? Why is your face red? Do you have a fever?" she asked worriedly.

"I'm fine," the girl said and put down her best friend's hands from her face.

They ate breakfast happily on the dining room and minutes later went to their own rooms to prepare. Charisse took a quick bath and changed her clothes. She was now wearing a light purple shirt t-shirt that said "I Love Philippines!" and dark blue jeans and her usual light purple rubber shoes. She went looking for her mini Jansport backpack and saw it above her table with a note.

_I hope you don't mind that I added an enchantment in your backpack. You can now put a lot of things inside. Enjoy your gift. –Hermes_

She looked at her backpack and saw that it still looked the same. She then tried to see if what Hermes' letter had said was true and put two fresh set of clothes and socks in it, ten pieces of handkerchief, wads of cash Chiron gave her for the quest and finally a book she found in her things. Wait a minute… She didn't bring any book before! Where did this came from? She got the quite heavy book with three hundred pages or so and looked at it. Somehow, probably her instincts, she knew it was from Hermes. Oh well. She just put it in her mini backpack and was surprised it fit since it was bigger. She tried it on and it was like she wasn't bringing anything at all. Cool.

_Thank you Hermes, _she said in her mind and stopped shortly. Since when did she call the god on a first name basis? She just shrugged at the thought and went downstairs to meet up with the others.

When she reached the living room, her friends were already waiting for her. The weather was good after all so they'll be resuming their quest.

She saw Will, Percy, Annabeth, Xierra and Will Solace joining their group on the living room. She, with Sabina, approached them and they then said goodbye to Charisse's mom and left on their way. They rode the public jeepney, then on a bus. While the bus they were riding to Pangasinan was on a stopover, she got the book Hermes gave her and read it.

The book was a travel guide in the Philippines and she got confused. Why would Hermes give her a travel guide in her own country? She already knew the place! Was it because he was the god of travels? She took a deep breath and started reading on page one.

When the bus lurched back to life, she brought back her book in her bag since reading while the vehicle is moving is bad for the eyes. She was already very near-sighted and was in a grave condition and she didn't want it to worsen.

They arrived at Pangasinan and stayed on a three star hotel before they continue their quest in finding the cave. So far so good. They still haven't encountered some monsters and it made her sigh in relief. She still felt unconfident in her skills in _Kali_ no matter what Will tell her. She was afraid that she wouldn't be able to defend herself properly from monsters since her weapons were sticks- not bladed weapons. She took a deep breath. _No Charisse. _She told herself. _You chose this weapon. Have some confidence in it! _She guessed she needed to see it herself to really believe Will that what he said about her skills was true and was enough to defend herself.

Charisse, Xierra, Annabeth and Sabina will be in one room with four beds complete with a bathroom, air conditioner and TV. While the guys- Percy, Will Hanson, Will Solace and Grover were in a room beside them.

She sat down on her bed and continued reading. Three hours already passed by and she was nearing the end of the book and that was when she saw it. On page one hundred and twenty eight, it was about the different caves in the country. She was right; there were a lot of caves. It started in Batanes, then in Pangasinan, Bataan, Aklan and also some parts of Mindanao. It was so many it felt hopeless. She started scanning the contents and the pictures, determined to find it.

Thirty minutes later, she was nearing the end of the selection and there were three more caves she hadn't read and the last one that was featured made her breathless. The picture was really beautiful and it looked so dreamy. It was too gorgeous to be true. But it was real. She proceeded to read it and saw a faint circular pencil mark on the name, "The Cave of Dreams," she murmured and stood up, bringing the book with her, excitement building up in her body.

"Sa, Xierra and Annabeth," she called her fellow girls. "I know where to find the cave we're looking for."

The girls she mentioned nodded and they went to the guy's room so that Charisse would be able to tell them what she discovered.

When everyone settled down, she opened the book on the exact page and showed them the cave. Everyone gasped because of its beauty.

"Guys," she started. "Meet The Cave of Dreams, the place we've been looking for."

"It's in Puerto Prinsesa, Palawan," Xierra said. "It's like many days away from Pangasinan. We don't have much time left. I can't believe we wasted time getting here."

Charisse stayed silent, thinking. There must be a way for them to reach Palawan in at least a day. They don't have enough time.

"Maybe we can call on Blackjack," Grover suggested.

Percy shook his head. "He's kind of busy right now."

"Can we like call for some hippocampus?" Charisse suggested.

"Too far away and Dad's still weak without his trident," Percy explained.

They all fell silent.

Will Solace spoke, "Maybe I can call Dad for a ride, if he's not currently busy."

"That would be awesome!" Xierra exclaimed happily. Charisse knew why the girl was in glee; she'll see Apollo once again. She sighed at her best friend.

Will Solace nodded. "I'll be back in a minute." He stood up and left to contact his father.

He came back a minute later with a big smile on his face. "Dad agreed. He'll be here in a second so we need to pack up and leave this hotel."

All of them nodded and everyone went to their own rooms to pack up. Charisse didn't need to fix her things since she'll simply put them in her bag and she was done. So she was the first one to go the entrance of the hotel and waited patiently for her friends.

She sat on the lobby and let her thoughts wander around. She couldn't forget about what happened that night in her room. It was really sweet of him to comfort her though very annoying especially when he laughed at her when he successfully surprised her. And what he did to her hands was very relaxing. She loved it, as much as she didn't want to be.

Suddenly, she felt someone was watching her and she looked around wildly. There wasn't anyone in the room other than the receptionist who was busy using the computer in front of her.

She immediately stood up and went outside of the hotel to fight whoever was following her without mortals seeing it, which was a big mistake.

Her heart was beating fast. Where were the others? What took them so long in packing up their things? She tried to calm herself. There was definitely someone trailing her and it wasn't good. She was alone. She shouldn't have left the hotel room or at least went with someone.

She reached the nearest beach, thanking God that Pangasinan have a lot of beaches. Around here, she felt safer since this was her territory as a daughter of Poseidon. She hadn't mastered her skills on water yet, but she knew enough to protect herself.

Adrenaline pumped in her veins as she waited for the one who was trailing her on the beach. The waves were crushing on her ankles and it made her stronger, ready to fight.

"Who's there? Show yourself!" she shouted bravely.

She could hear a sound rustled on the far left and she immediately shoot water daggers on it and the figure was moving. She heard a man cursed as he ran fast but not fast enough to escape the girl. She used the moisture of the soil the man was running into to tie him on the ground. Another curse reached her ears. She smiled; she was seriously getting more and more efficient in using the moist of living things to tie people down.

Feeling the power of the sea, she commanded the waters to get the man and bring him to her and in an instant; a teenage guy was in front of her, struggling to get out of the waters, cursing at her.

Charisse hated cursing. She felt like they were poisons in people's mouth. She waited patiently for the man to stop cursing at her and kept saying, "Beep" every time he swore and it made her laugh mentally since that was what Ryan Higa did on his video, _The iNavigator _when someone cursed.

Finally, the man stopped but he still glared at her. "Let. Me. Go." He spat the words.

The daughter of Poseidon sat on the sand while the guy was still hanging in the air with waters gripping him.

"Who are you?" Charisse asked.

Instead of replying, the man spit at her direction but since it was water, with just a wave of hand, it came back to the man and exploded in front of his face. "Why you-" he growled at her.

"Again," the girl said threateningly. "Who are you?"

"I'm Edgar Mayn," the guy started and the Filipina noted how messy his blonde hair was and how his green eyes were full of anger. "Son of Nemesis." Made sense why he was so vengeful. He inherited it from his mother.

"Why are you following me?" she asked.

"I'm not going to tell you," he spat out at her.

Charisse hated it when she had to do some 'measures' just to get answers. She tightened the grip of the waters on his body and the man gasped in agony. She could tell he was having hard time breathing.

"I-I'll tell you!" he immediately said and the girl loosened it a little. The guy took a breath and said, "I've got some orders to kidnap you."

So, he was working for the bad guys. "Who ordered you to kidnap me?" she asked.

"I don't know," the guy admitted.

Charisse tightened the grip once again.

"I-I swear on the River Styx I don't know!" he shouted as thunder boomed. Nothing happened so the girl figured out he was saying the truth. She loosened it a little and the guy continued talking, "I just saw a letter on my things telling me my first mission to prove my loyalty is to kidnap you."

She waited for awhile and realized the guy was telling the truth. It was no use torturing him any further. At least she got some information.

"I'll let you go for now," she warned him. "But if I see your face again, I'll not show mercy. Now go and don't ever cross my path again."

With a wave of hand the waters dropped the man to the sea and the man hurriedly scrambled to his feet and ran.

Charisse sighed. That was hard. She wasn't that harsh but if she wanted to get information, she had to.

She thought that was her only problem but she was wrong. As she was walking back to the hotel, not very far from the beach, she felt the hairs on her neck and arms stood up. Not again.

She whirled around and came face to face with a hellhound. She immediately jumped back out of instincts and got the miniature sticks and felt them turn to batons. She twirled them, pressed the invisible button and felt glad when she heard the sound of sharp blades tearing out of the wooden sticks. She then went into her fighting position. Her legs were bent and were few meters apart from each other making a diagonal line- her left foot not too far behind the right one. The stick on her right hand was in a counter-diagonal position while the left one was near her hip, ready to strike in defense.

She waited for this opportunity to fight a monster and see if Will was being honest when he told her she was a very gifted girl in the art of Filipino Martial Arts. _Well, Will, I hope you're right. _She mentally said. _I need that talent right now. _

Seven more hellhounds came behind it and if they could do expressions, they were probably smirking right now with the leader saying, "You're outnumbered. Prepare to die!" A feeling of déjà-vu went into her like this had happened to her before. A vision went into her mind.

_Fear was inside her and she was running away from eight hellhounds who were after her. She heard herself muttering how she should've brought her staff and how she was powerless right now. _

_One of them tackled her into the ground and it took her a lot of strength to get it out of her and continued running. _

Charisse was quite startled with what she had seen. She was running away from these hellhounds? That was ridiculous! She was strong enough to defeat them all. With a newfound determination to change what was on her vision, she patiently waited who'll first attack.

A hellhound came into her way and her mind was blank. All that was inside it was that she needed to kill them all to survive. She strike it with her sticks and she could hear the sounds of air as her batons rip through them to attack the hellhound. With a simple spank on the head, the monster fell on the ground and turned to dust.

She looked at the other seven, daring them to attack and they did. Two started attacking her on both sides but it was still too easy for her. Her body was dancing as she dodged their attacks and as she strike them with her sticks, she felt so alive.

In a matter of seconds, the two hellhounds were gone and then the remaining five all attacked her at once. She used her two sticks to stab the two hellhounds on her sides and jumped to avoid the other attacks, summoning water daggers out of nowhere and another one died.

The remaining two stopped and Charisse knew she should go easy on them. She twirled her sticks, loving the sounds of blasts of air as they rip through them and charged. She ran through them with one of her sticks pointing on the right while the other on the left and heard a sickening sound as the blades on her stick tore the bodies of the hellhounds and when she stopped inches behind them, they already turned to dust.

A triumphant smile formed on her face. Now she already believed Will when he told her she was excellent in _Kali_. She was a natural, even just a day of training she already became excellent. That was something!

And then she heard someone clap behind her and she turned her back to find a teenage guy with sandy hair, a bright cocky smile and outdoorsy looks. He had fair skin and looked around seventeen or eighteen. He was wearing a white, sleeveless T-shirt, blue jeans and loafers. He was seriously fit and she must admit he looked hot but still wasn't her type. She also knew who it was.

She kneeled on the ground as she put the end of the sticks on the soil; and stood up, feeling the light weight of the silver necklace on her neck as it dangled slightly.

"Apollo," she gave him a nod. "To whose pleasure do I owe your favorable presence?"

The sun god laughed. "No need to be formal Charisse."

"If you say so," the girl said and wondered what the god was doing in front of her.

"That was a really great show. I had a great time watching it and I feel inspired to write a haiku," Apollo said before Charisse could stop him, he spoke,"

_There were eight hellhounds_

_And Charisse fought them bravely_

_But I am still cooler._"

Charisse tried her best to stop herself from rolling her eyes. He was such a narcissistic god she couldn't believe her best friend fell for him!

"Now I see what my best friend saw in you," Apollo quipped with his eyes on hers. "At first I was surprised. You're not as attractive as his previous girls." He was checking her out. The daughter of Poseidon took deep breaths; she wanted to hit the god in front of her with her sticks repeatedly. No one, as in _no one _could do that to her. For her it was a sign of disrespect. But the guy in front of her was a god, an Olympian to be exact and she didn't want to be in his bad side. _Patience Charisse, _she told herself.

"And now," Apollo said. "I understand him. You're very talented, smart and powerful. I can sense a bright future ahead of you. You'll do."

Silence engulfed them and Charisse was taking deep breaths to calm herself. What was she, a toy to play with, to check out with? And what did he mean by 'you'll do'? _Sorry if I didn't pass your standards. Jeez._ She thought angrily. She hated this guy more and more with that attitude of his. What good of his looks if what was inside was the exact opposite?

She said a few seconds later, "Um, Sir-"

"Just Apollo," the god interrupted with a blinding smile that innocent was the wrong word to describe it.

"-Apollo," she continued. "Can I ask what are you doing here?"

"I can't leave a damsel in distress to fight eight hellhounds, can I?" he winked at her when he said that and it made her mentally scowl. She was a damsel in distress? Puh-lease. And he basically didn't fight at all! He had no right to say that. And that wink was just so flirty it made her mentally puke in disgust.

She stayed silent and Apollo took this as an opportunity to continue, "Everyone's been waiting for you. Let's go." He said cheerily as he snap and they reappeared on the beach where she met Edgar Mayn. There were the others waiting patiently for her.

Xierra and Sabina immediately rushed to her with a hug and both of them spoke at once. "Where were you?" - Sabina

"Where have you been?" - Xierra

"Are you alright?" - Sabina

"Are you hurt?" - Xierra

She just kept on nodding and said, "I'm fine."

After a few minutes of mini reunion, they all boarded up Apollo's chariot, which was currently a very luxurious cream white van. She sat beside the window on the first row and Will sat beside her, followed by Sabina. And on the second row were Grover, Annabeth and Percy. She was pretty sure you already know where Xierra sat at, of course the shotgun, right beside the driver who was Apollo. While looking at them, she wanted to puke. Goodness, she could literally see pink and red hearts floating around those two.

Charisse didn't understand why her best friend, Xierra was in love with such a guy like Apollo.

Her best friend was a decent girl. She was beautiful with that Korean cut black hair, light brown skin (lighter than hers), brown eyes and that petite and 5'4 feet tall built of hers. She also knew how to cook, loves taking care of children, can do a lot of household chores- in short, a perfect housewife that most of the guys dream of.

They understood each other so much just one look they could determine what the other was thinking. Except for one thing. Charisse couldn't find a really logical reason for Xierra's fascination (ok, she under exaggerated it) to that god was one of the mysteries in this world.

Yes, she understood that the god was really hot, the second most handsome guy in the whole wide world (don't even try asking her who was the first one unless you want to earn a really painful hit using her two sturdy sticks with sharp blades on the end) with a blinding white smile and those killer blue eyes- but that was all. Looks wasn't supposed to be the only reason for her best friend's addiction (that's the correct term to describe Xierra's love for Apollo)! There must be something more. Whatever that was, she knew it was none of her business and hoped that she'll quench her curiosity in the near future when her best friend was ready to tell her.

Why was she even thinking about these things anyway? Oh yeah, right. It was because of the view in front of her. She mentally sighed and just focused on the window beside her, but not concentrated enough to not notice the guy beside her.

Will was slightly fidgeting on his seat, she knew what was happening. Will was like that when he wanted to do something but couldn't, either he was too shy or he didn't want to pry on that person's privacy. She knew he wanted to ask her about what happened earlier, where she went\ and how she met Apollo. To avoid questions, she fiddled on the mini screen in front of her- shuffling through dozens of movies and music and finally settled on just listening to the songs "A Thousand Years, Part 2", "Marry Your Daughter", "Little Things" and "Roar". She just repeatedly listened to those four songs.

When "Little Things" by One Direction blasted in her earphones for the fifth time, she couldn't help but softly hum with it. This was one of her most favorite love songs of all time. She loved how the guy still sees his girlfriend like she's perfect despite of her imperfections and is wishing to make her love herself just like how he loves her. She sighed dreamily. It was amazing. She wanted to have a guy like that, who'll accept her whoever she was, who could put up with her irritable and hot tempered attitude, who wouldn't care that much about her physical appearance and most of all, love her as she was.

_Cause I won't let these little things slip out of my mouth_

_Cause it's you, oh it's you, it's you they add up to_

_I'm in love with you and all your little things_

"A Thousand Years, Part Two" played next and she could hear the voice of Christina Perri singing.

This was one of her most favorite love songs of all time too. If ever she'll love a guy, she wanted to be with him forever and it was her deepest will in love that whoever she'll end up with, he'll tell her "I love you for a thousand years and I'll love you for a thousand more". She'll literally die of sweetness when that special someone told her that.

Before she knew it, the song was done and "Marry Your Daughter" by Brian McKnight came in next.

_I'm gonna marry your princess_

_Make her my queen_

_She'll be the most beautiful bride that I'll ever seen_

_Can't wait to smile as she walks down the aisle_

_On the arm of her father_

_From the day that I marry your daughter_

Just like the two other previous love songs, this was one of her most favorite. She loved the tune, the voice of Brian McKnight and most of all, the lyrics. She could see how much the guy loves the girl unconditionally. It was beautiful.

After playing the four songs for the tenth time, she went to movies next. She looked at the list and was finding a good movie to watch. She was in the mood to watch romantic comedy and drama films so she searched for something in that genre. And that was when she found it.

"Pygmalion," she murmured to herself. She had heard of this film before. It was a movie based on George Bernard Shaw's play of the same name and was a modern version of the Pygmalion and Galatea tale. Pygmalion was a sculptor who sculpted nothing but women but hated them in real life. One time, he made a statue of a very beautiful woman and he fell in love with it. He asked for Aphrodite's help and the goddess of love breathed life into the statue and it became a real life woman and they lived happily ever after. The tale was one of the stories that caught Charisse's attention when she was still studying Ancient Greek. It was like true love.

Anyway, Pygmalion was a 1938 film (meaning it was black and white) but she was fortunate enough to find out it got English subtitles. Oh well, she'll love to watch this.

For the next two hours, she was watching intently and laughing in a few scenes. It was just hilarious. And she really liked the idea of Eliza ending up with Professor Higgins!

And then, there came the ending. It was so cliff-hanger she wanted to bang her head and it was kind of disappointing. But it was better than the conclusion in the original play by George Bernard Shaw.

By the time she was done, there were still a lot of hours left before they would reach Palawan. The others were busy in the mini screens in front of them. Charisse sighed. Well, she just finished watching a movie so she better just go to sleep.

She closed her eyes and fell asleep, which was a big mistake.

_She was back there again- the cave that gave her the creeps with torch lining up the walls. She knew that if she continued walking, she'll find a large clearing, thirty feet below with hordes of monsters, the Esiw Eno and the pale tall man with huge muscles that scared her. _

_She was right. _

_Looking below, she saw a clearing of monsters. The man she was afraid of sat on the throne and Esiw Eno was on his right side. _

"_TIAN!" the man on the throne shouted and immediately one of the cloaked beings dashed in front of him and knelt down. _

"_I heard from Esiw Eno that you found something… interesting," he said, looking at his servant. _

"_Y-Yes Master," the cloaked being said. "I haven't found the missing weapon but I found something much more significant." _

"_And what is that?"_

"_A sacrifice, Master," the cloaked being said. "The power of the weapons of the Twelve Olympians was enough, yes, but the real Master will become more powerful when this sacrifice will be offered to him." _

_The man scratched his chin, thinking and finally he said, "Tell me what the sacrifice is." _

"_It'll be very hard-" the cloaked being started but the man cut him off. "TELL ME!" _

"_Y-Yes Master, the sacrifice needs to be a very powerful demigod."_

_The man sneered. "That's all? I can find any very powerful demigod around!"_

"_That's the problem, Master," the cloaked being started. "The sacrifice isn't like any other very powerful demigod. It points to a specific person, or girl to be exact."_

"_Hmm… You got me interested," the man said creepily with his deep voice. "Continue." _

"_The sacrifice should be someone who is unique and isn't like any other. She got a powerful destiny to fulfill, one of the future heroes of Olympus and most of all, very determined. With these qualities she possessed, the real Master will adapt them and he'll be the greatest of the greats and will surely avenge us from those gods!" _

_Cheer erupted around them. _

"_Who is she?" The pale bald man asked. _

_Charisse didn't know why but she suddenly felt really scared and nervous like her instinct was telling her to get out of this place immediately before she'll hear the cloaked being's answer. But before she could, she heard him speak. _

"_Charisse Aguiluz."_

_And that made her wake up. _

She was breathing heavily as she sat up straight from the comfortable seat. She then remembered she was in Apollo's luxurious van, on the way to Puerto Princesa, Palawan. And everyone was sleeping except for the driver.

"Nightmare?" she heard Apollo's voice and she looked at the back of his head, wondering how he knew and then she remembered he was the god of prophecies, of course he knew!

She nodded and said, "Yeah" before leaning on the seat and shifted her position.

"Do you want to talk about it?" he asked.

Since when did Apollo become concerned about her? It was really weird.

"Nah," she just said. "I prefer to keep it to myself."

"Ok then," he just said and continued. "Just a little piece of advice, don't ignore your nightmares. Sometimes, they tell us something."

That got her more confused. "What?"

She saw Apollo smile and heard him spoke, "By the way, we'll land in fifteen minutes. Wake the others up."

She just nodded and woke everyone up hearing groans but ignored them. She repeated the same message to them, they'll be landing in fifteen minutes and they should prepare.

After fifteen minutes, they landed on a forest and Charisse was glad to be able to stretch her whole body. Even with the stopovers, it was still a very numbing travel.

She already left with the others while Xierra stayed, saying farewells to Apollo. They all waited for her and Charisse swore she saw her best friend giving the god a kiss on the cheek before running towards their direction. She tried her best not to be disgusted by her best friend's 'taste'. She meant, seriously, Apollo? Of all people? _No Charisse, _she reminded herself. _You're not going to complain again. Xierra is your best friend. You trust her. I trust her- enough to know that she knows what she's doing. _

"Done with your little goodbye?" Will teased her.

Xierra just blushed and walked ahead to avoid any more questions. They just followed her into the woods, not really knowing where they were going to reach that particular cave and wondering how the other teams were doing and most especially not expecting where they were heading to.

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><p><strong>Before you proceed to the next chapter, please take a deep breath and compose yourself. No, don't worry; Charisse or any other demigods that are part of this quest won't die. But there will be someone who'll be gone. No, Charmes4ever's group, Charisse will not choose Will over Hermes. You'll find out what I'm talking about when you read the next chapter entitled: Dreams and Destiny. Oh and please review! :) Thanks!<strong>


	10. Dreams and Destiny

**Author's Notes: **

**Hey everyone, here's the second chapter! **** Enjoy reading! **

**Warning: Really long chapter. Will probably make you cry (I had someone I know who had read this and when she was done, she was bawling their eyes out, shouting at me why I did this and that. I hope you won't do that to me in the reviews *laughs nervously*). **

**Disclaimer: Don't own anything at all!**

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 9 – Dreams and Destiny<strong>

Three hours. It was the number of hours that had passed ever since they got here in Puerto Princesa, deep in the forests, looking for land. And it was also the number of hours that it took to find a beach.

Charisse's feet had already been sore because of non-stop walking, taking occasional two-minute breaks and continue walking again for the next hour. She was seriously growing tired of the view in front of her, whenever she looked there were always dozens of tall trees and the rocky, uneven floor under her feet.

They were looking for land and searched for the cave. It was said in the travel book that it was a cave on a beach near the city. So, they should first find that city, travel, find the beach and you'll see the cave. Sounded simple, right? Not, especially that there would be monsters in the way and more unexpected things to come.

While walking, she caught the scent of the sea and she felt glad. She looked at Percy and saw his eyes widened too. There was definitely a beach near their place! She was so excited to take a swim and enjoy the seawater on her body.

She ran and after a few minutes saw the beach. It was very beautiful and the white sands around it added to its beauty.

"I personally declare a thirty minute break!" Charisse shouted before anyone could say something and ran but made sure she was only a few meters away from the shore just in case something happens. She swam around in glee and loved for the fact she didn't need to remove her clothes and worry about not having any towels to use since she couldn't get wet (unless she wanted to).

The others followed her too and only Sabina and Xierra stayed behind since they weren't comfortable around the sea. Percy was with Annabeth and she saw them went underwater, probably having those cheesy moments. Grover was seated on the shore, just drenching his hooves with the seawater to relax them. Will Solace removed his shirt, showing his leaned body and went swimming.

Charisse saw Xierra stare at the guy, probably finding resemblance to the god she was in love with. She admitted that the Apollo cabin counselor was hot; he looked like his father with the surfer-like body, blonde hair and blue eyes. He was also tall standing six feet and had an athletic build. Maybe that was the reason why her best friend was staring at him.

The daughter of Poseidon sighed at her best friend's boy craziness over Apollo and noticed another Will making his way towards her direction. This Will had no resemblance with Hermes, except for the darkness of his hair. His looks were inherited from his mother. He didn't bother to remove his t-shirt and before she knew it, she felt seawater was thrown over her.

She glared at Will and also threw seawater at him. Their fight went on and reached to the point where Charisse was using her demigod powers to throw a gallon of water at the guy. Will will just laugh with that contagious laugh of his and she found herself laughing with him. Being with him just made her feel relaxed and happy.

Everyone was just so happy that they forgot about the stress of the quest just for awhile. But it didn't stay long.

Immediately, a giant crab appeared on the sea and Percy and Annabeth appeared above the waters.

"Karkinos!" Annabeth shouted. "Run!"

Charisse didn't need to be told twice and immediately ran away from the sea. The giant crab, which Annabeth just shouted earlier was called Karkinos, started 'clawing' everything around it. The scene would be funny if it weren't for the fact that it was a monster and really big that could crush her if it fell.

She heard the daughter of Athena muttering that the Karkinos was a giant crab monster Hera sent to Hercules to distract him from fighting the Hydra and killed it by crushing it with his foot- which was crazy since it was huge. She also heard her say something that Hera might've sent it to her because the goddess hated Annabeth.

She didn't know why her older brother's girlfriend would think that and told herself to focus on the fight at hand. She pulled down the two mini sticks charms on her necklace and they turned into wooden sticks as she twirled them. Around her, everyone was already prepared with their own weapons. Sabina with Will Solace were farther behind, bow in hand, ready to shoot arrows. Grover was also with them, his reed pipes in his mouth to call on the force of nature. Xierra and Will were holding a sword and were near Percy with Riptide. Beside him was Annabeth with her knife.

"How do we defeat it?" she asked loudly to Percy and Annabeth. "Don't tell me we have to crush it with our feet like Heracles did. That'll be crazy!"

"We don't have Heracles's strength!" she heard Sabina shouted at the back of the group.

"The crab's body was like steel," Annabeth said. "Its weakness was the flesh inside its shell and someone who was small should do it."

All of their eyes landed on Sabina. She was the youngest, therefore the smallest, of the group. She nodded, accepting that she might die in the process but Charisse knew everyone will not let that happen.

"Then, all of us will distract it," she told everyone and made her dark brown eyes look at the crab, her sticks ready to strike anytime. After a few seconds, she shouted, "Attack!"

Grover started playing a tune, Will Solace shot arrows and the others attacked, running towards the crab and attacking its shell. What Annabeth said was true; it was like Superman's body. They only annoy it, but nothing more than that.

"Hurry!" Charisse shouted at Sabina, who nodded and flew swiftly, avoiding attacks and flying arrows. She stealthily slipped inside the shell and the daughter of Poseidon hoped it would work.

Charisse was on the crab's legs and she repeatedly hit them with her sticks and it looked like it wasn't even working. But no matter, she was determined to at least wound it a little even if it was impossible.

She gathered all of her strength and remembered Hermes's words that her sticks were one of the sturdiest and hardest to break weapons out there. _Let's see if it's true, _she thought and smashed her sticks on the leg of the crab. The impact was so strong, she was blown away for a few meters and her back met up with the strong trunk of a tree which appeared in the middle of the sands just to 'catch' her. She sent a grateful look at Grover and turned to see how much damaged she caused. What she saw made her jaw almost drop.

The steel-like leg of the crab she just hit was bent in the wrong direction. She gazed at her sticks in amazement, what the god said was true! She felt more and more thankful for her sticks new strengths.

She went back to the battlefield and was about to repeat it again to completely remove at least a leg of the crab but then, she didn't have to since Sabina resurfaced once again, with a smile on her face.

"Go back to the shore! This crab will explode in five seconds!" she shouted and quickly flew away. Easy for her to say since she could fly away but Charisse needed to run and she knew she wasn't fast enough to reach the shore in five seconds. So she did the thing all Poseidon kids do. She went underwater and watched the crab exploded in dusts which littered on the sea. She shook her head in disgust, resurfaced and commanded the waters to gather them and threw them back to the ground where dusts belonged. It followed and she saw the dusts flew all around the shore, showering everyone with it.

She just laughed as they glared at her and wiped the dusts of their body.

"Gee, thanks," Will sarcastically shouted at her as she swam back to the shore.

"Welcome!" she just said.

Minutes later, they went back to travelling. After that fight, everyone was slightly tired and they became more as they walked further in the forest.

They've been walking for almost half a day already and their canteens were running low. They were in need of water or else they'll die by dehydration.

"Water," Xierra croaked and Charisse knew how hard it must be for her to say that since her voice was hoarse and sounded dry.

Will Solace handed her the last canteen with a one eight fresh water inside. She drank it all in one gulp and now they didn't have anything at all. Their desperation to find water was growing stronger. It reached up to the point that every now and then, someone will ask, "Is there a nearest river?" and then Percy and she will shook their heads and met up with groans.

Another hour passed and she thought if another hour will pass by, they'll surely die of dehydration. It took a lot of will power to make herself continue walking.

And she was glad with that will power. Instantly, she could hear water flowing. It made her still and looked at Percy who also gave her a nod. What she sensed was right; there was a near water source!

The others must had seen their exchange and cheered. Immediately, everyone was running and a lovely fountain came into view. Lots of water was gushing on it and they watched it, wishing to quench their thirst.

Charisse was the first one to reach the fountain and scoop a handful of its clear water. She was about to drink it when someone yelled, "Stop! Don't drink it!" and tackled her to the ground.

Everyone was alert. They were now running towards her direction but were still far away. Her eyesight slightly dimmed and when it was clearer, very gorgeous green eyes stared at her. She was momentarily become frozen and watched as five seconds later they turned to blue. And another five passed by and they went to brown. The eyes of the one who tackled her to the ground were constantly changing colors every five seconds. It was both beautiful and creepy.

If there was one thing that Charisse wouldn't want anyone to know, it was that she was a sucker for the eyes. She believed that eyes were the windows to a person's soul. They were also the first thing she'll notice in a person- if their eyelashes were long or thick, if they have natural eyeliner like hers, double eyelids or if they were twinkling every now and then. But it was her first time to see such gorgeous kaleidoscope eyes that if she would admit, were more beautiful than Piper's (no offense intended).

The eyes were feminine with a hint of masculinity in them it was confusing. She thought that the one who tackled her was a woman.

"Sorry," the person said and stood up. She then realized that the person was a man. He offered her his hand but she just ignored it and stood up on her own.

Anger now flared inside her. It was only delayed because of his unusual eyes.

"What was that for?" she asked angrily as her companions reached them. She didn't give them a glance as she glared at the guy in front of her. Not caring for the fact he was very gorgeous. He was tall, three inches taller than her. He was also lean and muscular, even without the huge muscles. With just a simple t-shirt and jeans on, he looked very beautiful and Charisse swore if she would wear what he was wearing, it wouldn't look that good on her.

"I'm really sorry," he said sincerely with that musical voice of his as he covered his lower lip with his hand, smiling sheepishly at her like a girl being embarrassed. "I didn't mean to hurt you. It's just… I thought I need to tackle you since I know that yelling won't stop you from drinking."

He was right. When Charisse put her mind into something, she'll do whatever it takes just to get it. Even if the guy yelled at her to don't drink it, she will still do it. But that was not an excuse.

She looked up at him, still glaring as she demanded loudly, "Who are you, anyway? Why didn't you let me drink? Don't you know we've been travelling for almost a day, with no water supply and we're going to die if we don't drink this instant?"

He thought for a moment and got something from his pocket. It was a canteen and gave it to her. "Here's a canteen of fresh water. After you drink, share it to your companions. Don't worry about the supply. My father enchanted this canteen to never lose fresh water inside." He said kindly as he winked at her.

Momentarily, she wondered who his father was but her thirst overpowered her curiosity. She drank all of its contents and immediately felt refreshed and energized. "Wow," she muttered and gave it to Annabeth who gave it to Sabina, so on and so forth until everyone drank. What the guy said was true. It never lost water inside. Cool.

When everyone got their fill, Charisse looked up at the sky and realized few minutes from now, there'll be sunset and then night will come.

As if sensing her thoughts, the guy smiled with a very bright smile, "Don't worry." He said softly and loud enough for everyone to hear even if it was only intended for her. "I've got a place around here. You can stay there for awhile."

"That's great!" Xierra suddenly exclaimed as she appeared beside Charisse. The girl mentally sighed. It was typical of Xierra to be attracted to guys like him.

"No, it's not," Charisse said firmly, glared at Xierra and turned to the guy in front of them. "Thanks for the offer but we can manage."

Xierra shot her a look before turning back to Hermaphrodite and sweetly said, "Just wait a minute." The daughter of Zeus chirped and dragged her few meters away from the guy who just watched them.

"What's wrong with you?" Xierra asked at her. "He's got a place for us to stay for the night! We can't just turn him down. And plus, the guy's really beautiful."

_I can't tell her I'm questioning the guy's gender and that I feel really uncomfortable around him. _She thought to herself. "What if he's a monster in disguise, ready to eat us while we're sleeping?" she countered at her. "We can't be sure of him. Besides, he still hasn't told us his name or what he was doing in the middle of the Puerto Princesa forest. I don't trust him."

Xierra huffed and took a quick glance at the guy and back at her. "That guy, a monster? Wake up Charisse! No monster is that gorgeous in disguise!"

She crossed her arms stubbornly at her best friend. "I still don't trust him."

Xierra threw her hands up in the air in frustration and exclaimed, "Whatever! But we're going to accept his offer and no buts!" And she stormed away angrily as Charisse just stayed there.

The girl didn't know why but she felt awkward and uncomfortable near that guy. And she learned that night why.

Just like Xierra said, they accepted his offer, only Charisse and Sabina were the one who objected. Majority wins. It was so surprising that Annabeth, of all people, would agree to accept a stranger's offer that the Filipina almost suspected that the guy was using persuasion skills.

And now, they were outside the guy's wooden house, camping and roasting marshmallows.

After a long time laughing and enjoying their selves, the conversation turned to the guy.

"By the way," Xierra said, turning to the unnamed guy. "Who are you?"

"I'm not really sure you'll want to know," he just said mysteriously and that made Charisse more annoyed. Why couldn't he just spit it out?

"Come on, just say your name! How hard is that?" Charisse snapped at him.

"Charisse," Will gave her a look but she ignored him.

She was growing tired of guessing the guy's name and it didn't add up to her mood that everyone agreed to stay here without caution that he may be a threat. No one was that gorgeous without a reason and that made her uneasy. The guy just spelled D-A-N-G-E-R-O-U-S to her.

"No it's okay," the guy said and looked at her with his kaleidoscope eyes. They were colored amber currently. "My name's Hermaphrodite."

Everyone gasped at that.

"You mean you're the half-woman, half-man deity?"Grover asked as Hermaphrodite nodded. "That's me." He said sadly.

Oh. Now Charisse realized why she was uncomfortable around him and why she was confused with his gender. He was Hermaphrodite, the half-woman and half-man guy. She knew his story. How this psycho nymph named Salmacis was chasing after him and even attempted to rape him while he was about to take a bath in a fountain. The gods fulfilled her wish to be with the guy forever and ever since then, they were together and the fountain was known as the "Fountain of Salmacis" where whoever will drink or take a bath from it, will turn like them.

And then, his parents were Aphrodite and… Hermes. She scolded herself. She had no right to be jealous since it was common for the gods to have other offspring. And then she realized that if she'll end up with Hermes, then there wass the possibility that he'll leave her when she bore him a demigod, or if she'll turn immortal and be with him for eternity, he might cheat on her and will have other girls to always keep the Hermes cabin occupied. She scolded herself again. What was she thinking? She didn't have any feelings for the god anyway! Or at least that was what her mind kept convincing her. She mentally slapped herself because of the thoughts that were running in her mind.

And then she remembered the story how they had the guy in front of her. Hermes seduced Aphrodite during the Ancient Times and that resulted Hermaphrodite- before she could continue thinking, she slapped herself for real this time on her hand. Everyone stared at her like she was crazy and she couldn't blame them. No one in their right minds would slap their hands with no reason at all. _Quick, think of a sensible excuse, _she thought. And then she grinned sheepishly and said, "Well, there's a lot of mosquitoes around and there's one that is biting me but I killed it in time." She opened her palm and made sure she was the only one who could see it and pretended to remove an invisible mosquito and into the ground, nowhere in sight and everyone turned their attention back to Hermaphrodite. Charisse sighed in relief.

"Why didn't you allow Charisse to drink from the fountain earlier?" Will Solace asked.

"The fountain was not like any other," Hermaphrodite replied. "That's the fountain of… Salmacis."

They all fell silent and the daughter of Poseidon hated to admit but she was thankful the guy- she meant girl, no guy; whatever- stopped her.

Seconds later, Annabeth asked, "Mind if I ask a question?"

"I don't mind," Hermaphrodite said.

"What are you doing out here in the middle of the Puerto Princesa forest?" The daughter of Athena asked as her gray eyes calculated everything around her.

"The Cave of Dreams," the guy just said. "It's the reason why I'm here."

"Oh my gods," Sabina said, probably realizing what the guy meant. Annabeth muttered something too. Even Will Solace, Will and Xierra understood it too. Only she and her half-brother remained clueless.

Annabeth rolled her eyes and before she could explain, Hermaphrodite beat her to it. "The Cave of Dreams is enchanted and a very powerful place. It's so full of ancient magic; people during the ancient times get reincarnated to the modern world. And… I'm one of them."

Charisse just realized how powerful the cave they were going into. No wonder it was the place where the enemy tried to hide the weapons.

And then, typical of Will to find something to say during uncomfortable silence as a son of Hermes, asked, "Hermaphrodite, if you don't mind, I'm just wondering. Do you really have this… uh…" He pointed at his chest. "…a girl's chest?"

The guy nodded and was holding the neckline of his t-shirt, probably going to bring it down to show them it was real. And that made the Filipina's eyes widen and shrieked immediately, "No nudity please!"

Hermaphrodite brought down the neckline for an inch and a half, just enough for them to make out a cleavage. She heard others gasped silently and mouth hanging quite open. She wasn't one of those since she was focused in giving Will the best death glare she could. The son of Hermes just shrugged at her and mouthed an apology.

She just nodded and accepted it.

Grover then asked, "If you're here and people from the Ancient Times are reincarnated and there's the fountain of Salmacis, many meters away from here, where is she?"

She watched as Hermaphrodite shuddered at the mention of the nymph's name. She realized how much he must've hated getting stuck with her forever.

"She's around here somewhere," his eyes darted around, cautious that the girl might suddenly appear out of nowhere, drag him to the fountain and make a wish. "Everywhere I go, she's always there. I've been travelling for two weeks already and up till now; I still haven't left the Puerto Princesa forest. And no matter what I do, I kept going back to the fountain, resisting the urge to remove my clothes and bathe myself. This is the maximum distance I can get away from that cursed place."

Pity filled her. He was living a tragic life and it broke her heart. Maybe he wasn't a threat at all. Maybe he wasn't like his mother. Maybe she was wrong about him, after all.

Minutes later, they went back inside the wooden house. It was really cozy and warm inside. It wasn't big but wasn't small either, it was just enough for ten people to live in- ten people who wouldn't complain about the small space.

Two hours later, while everyone was already sleeping and Charisse could hear the soft snoring of Sabina who was inches away from her, her eyes were still wide awake. Her mind kept running back to the conversations they had with Hermaphrodite. How he was very beautiful she couldn't take her eyes off him. How he always blushed, laughed and his eyes kept twinkling. He was like an anime or manga character about guys being more feminine than masculine and most of them turning out to be gay- they were called bishounen. He was exactly like one, well except for the 'gay' part. And by the mere fact that he had a girl's chest, was scary.

She thought if Hermaphrodite was alive in this century, she meant like he was born in here, with that beauty, she was sure he'll always get bullied. She wondered if there were times when Hermaphrodite just wished he wasn't born like that. Like an ordinary human being. If he would be given a chance, would he change his self? She felt pity towards him. But still, that didn't change for the fact that he was an offspring of Hermes with a girl like Aphrodite, not a really good combination, if you ask her.

She sighed. She was being unreasonable. She hated a guy just because of his parentage and unique form.

She blinked and continued staring at the ceiling, looking at the lines that made up the woods that were used to make it. She blinked again and mentally groaned in her mind. That was it. Sleep was definitely out of the question.

When she was still normal, she didn't have any trouble sleeping. She just needed to be like a statue on the bed, closed her eyes and breathe and she would be sleeping already. But ever since she became a demigod, she seldom had times where she couldn't rest her mind. This was one of those times.

She searched for her glasses, wore them and silently stepped out of the sleeping bag. She tiptoed up to the doorway, wore her shoes and quietly got out of the door and out of the house.

Cold night air met up her body and she hugged herself to lessen the cold. She settled herself comfortably, a few meters away from the house- just enough to still see its whole exterior just in case something happened and also enough to have a really great view of the night sky.

She just stared at the stars, shining brightly in the sky, with a half-moon smiling at her. It was so beautiful. She put her hands behind her head and inhaled the crisp night air. She closed her eyes, just feeling her surroundings. Hearing the cold wind blowing by making grasses around here rustle, a faint sound of growling and she could also hear the water rushing through the fountain, many meters away from her… and another presence approaching her.

Opening her eyes, she brought out a stick, alert even if she was lying down on the grass. She just saw a five foot and eight inches tall man who was very beautiful, standing awkwardly beside her. Even with the lighting of the moonlight, she could see his kaleidoscope eyes glinting with kindness. A soft smile was on his gorgeous face as he asked, "Can't sleep?"

She just nodded. "Yeah." She returned her gaze back at the sky as they were engulfed in awkward silence. And then Hermaphrodite lied beside her, few inches separating them and he softly whispered, "I know you hate me."

She got taken aback at what he said and looked at him. "What made you say that? Of course I don't hate you!"

He looked at her dark brown eyes and she could see his soft twinkling eyes changing colors every five seconds. "Yes you do. I can see it in your eyes."

She just sighed and looked at him sincerely; to show him what she would be saying next was true. "Look, I don't hate you, I swear. It's just… I'm not that very fond of your parentage and your… body. You know."

He looked at the night sky and nodded. "I know," he said with that soft voice of his that'll make you want to do everything for him. "And don't worry. I completely understand."

They stayed silent for awhile and Charisse admired this guy's kindness and humility. What would happen to the world if majority of its population were like Hermaphrodite? She meant the personality and character. Maybe it would be a lot better than it was now.

And then he spoke few minutes later. "By the way, you value determination above anything else right?"

"Yeah. Determination is my middle name," she smiled at him, warming up to him. She silently admitted to herself that this guy didn't deserve her cold side.

"Well, do you believe that if I persevered enough and control myself not to bathe in that fountain, there's a possibility that I might change the destiny the Fates had given me?" he asked, his eyes, which were the color of gray were sparkling with hope.

That was an excellent question Charisse didn't know what to say. But she knew she had to say the truth. "I don't believe what Hector told his son, Scamandrios or Astyanax when he said his farewells to Andromache." She found herself rambling on. "He said, 'Destiny is a thing which no man can escape, neither coward nor brave man, from the day he is born'. I've always believed that we create our destiny, that we can change it. We have free will, for goodness sake."

His now colored purple (yes, purple) eyes shined brighter than before. Charisse realized that purple colored eyes looked beautiful in a person. "Do you mean it's possible?"

"Sure," she shrugged and gave him an encouraging smile. "I believe that you can do it. You've been reincarnated in this world to be able to change your future. You've been given a second chance." She reached for his masculine hands and yet very smooth like a girl's skin; but as she gripped them, she knew that despite its smoothness it was still strong. "Trust me; you don't want to miss this second chance." She gave him a smile and his reply was one full of hope and love, it made her happy.

They just stayed there for thirty minutes. As they went back to the house and as Charisse settled herself comfortably on the sleeping bag, she knew that in every rule there was an exception. She didn't care for the fact that the guy she was with earlier was a son of her least favorite goddess and a god whom she had these unexplainable feelings for; and that his gender was unknown. She was wrong to judge him so easily with one look. The only thing that she cared right now was that, this guy, no matter who or what he was, was a simple human being who wanted to change his fate and not to mention, very kind, patient and humble.

Charisse was currently having a really good dream. She was dreaming that she was just a normal human being- no monsters, gods and most especially, she wasn't a demigod. She was still studying at San Aloysius Catholic School, still had this big crush on Will and meeting her maternal family every day; sleeping in her comfortable bed and eating lots and lots of her favorite foods. Hanging out with her best friends- everything she usually did when she was still normal.

Many years later, she became a very successful businesswoman in the field of Agriculture and a bestselling author. She travelled a lot and went to different universities and events to deliver a speech. One day, she and Will were walking hand in hand when he proposed to her and she accepted. They decided to hold the wedding after two months.

While on a business trip in Manhattan, New York, two snakes suddenly appeared in her path and she stood frozen in fear. She didn't know what to do. When she thought she was going to die, saying mentally her last words, a voice that sounded music to her ears shouted, "George, Martha!"

The snakes stopped crawling towards her and she saw a man, probably a year older than her, striding his way towards her. The winds blew around him and he moved so swiftly and fast he was there in a second she didn't have any time to blink.

As she watched the man picked the two snakes up, she realized how gorgeous he was. He had dark brown hair and blue eyes that was bluer than the skies that she got mesmerized. He also had such fair skin it completely contrast her light brown ones. She could make out muscles on his arms and saw that he was athletic and very lean. He was, in three letters, hot.

_No Charisse_, she told herself. _You will not get distracted. Focus! You're engaged to the most handsome, sweetest and kindest man in the world for goodness sake!_

"I'm sorry if my pets scared you," he grinned at her. "I was busy delivering stuff I didn't notice in time that they were missing. Are you hurt? Are you alright?"

_Goodness, his smile was so dazzling. _

She shook her head. "It's alright, really and I'm fine. I'm just a little shaken up. That's all."

He smiled again. "Glad to hear. By the way, do you mind if we grab some coffee? I really need to make up for my pets scaring you."

"No, it's alright." She said again. "You don't need to. Besides, I'm not much of a coffee drinker."

His face fell and she suddenly felt guilty. "I mean, sure, why not? I'm craving for a frappe right now." _What are you saying? _She mentally scolded in her mind. _You have like ten minutes before your next meeting and four hours before you need to go back to the Philippines! _

She knew that but as soon as she saw his face brighten, she knew she should cancel her meeting. "Great!" he exclaimed. "Come on, let's go!" And he dragged her away.

The next scene was that they were enjoying frappe in Starbucks. She grew closer and closer to this guy whom he introduced himself as "Leon". He said he worked as a delivery boy and she could see the passion in his eyes as he talked about how he could travel to a lot of places, talk to different people, and seeing the people's happy faces once they saw the package he was delivering. Yes, his job wasn't like the big time ones, but they were still important. And the fact that he loved it, made it more special.

After a lot of minutes, she knew she had to go.

Before she would go back to the Philippines, she handed him an invitation to her wedding.

"I really hope you could come," she told him. "If you don't have any money, just call me. I'd really appreciate it if you'll be part of the happiest day of my life."

He just nodded and she swore she saw hints of sadness in his beautiful blue eyes but ignored it. She then left.

Then the day for the wedding came by. She sadly looked at the mirror as her mother was fixing her hair.

"Honey, this is your wedding. You should be happy." Her mother told her.

She just nodded. "I know. But I don't know why but my heart is aching- like I don't want this anymore like I did before. It sucks."

Her mother nodded. "I completely understand."

The wedding ceremony started and she took a deep breath as she walked down the aisle on the arm of her uncle and he gave her to Will who smiled at her warmly. She just nodded and they faced the altar. Then, minutes later, the priest asked, "Does anyone object?"

"I object!" A familiar voice yelled and she turned her back to see Leon, breathing hard. He looked like he ran around the world just to get there.

Whispers sprang all around the church, echoing around and she could hear snippets from it. "Who is he?" "Does Will know him?" "What's his relation to Charisse?"

"Charisse, listen to me," the American guy looked at her intently, even if he was meters away from her. "Ever since I rescued you from my pets, I knew you're very special to me. And I was right when we talked at Starbucks. At that moment, I already know you're the woman I'll love all my life. I tried to forget this feelings, I swear but couldn't. I just had a split second decision earlier to stop this wedding to tell you what I really feel. Whatever may happen next after this, I know in myself that I did what I have to do, with no regrets. Charisse Aguiluz, _o jo kaluguran daka. Mahal na mahal kita. _I love you."

The girl stood still, crying. "You don't have any idea how much pain you're causing me now. But at the same time, I'm happy. Leon McHenry, _o jo kaluguran daka. Mahal na mahal din kita. _I love you too."

She looked at Will and kissed his cheek before hugging him. "I'm so sorry Will. But I love him."

"It's alright Char," he just said. "Does he make you happy?"

She nodded. "Yes. I'm in cloud nine when I'm with him."

"Then, I'm happy too," he just said and smiled warmly at her even if tears were threatening to fall from the corner of his eyes. "I'm letting you go Charisse."

"Thank you," she said and ran towards Leon who welcomed her in his arms and spin her around. He carried her bridal style as they ran away.

Before she would know what happened next, a voice said in her mind urgently, "Wake up Charisse. Wake up." She knew that voice. It was the voice that always haunted her mind before. It was also very familiar but she couldn't remember to whom that voice belonged to.

She opened her eyes and looked around. Everyone was still sleeping. It was very unlikely of her to be the first one to wake up. Oh well, thanks to that voice she wasn't able to finish her wonderful dream. She suddenly stopped short and wondered who that Leon guy was and how his eyes looked very familiar. And also the names of the snakes were the ones she had heard before. Oh well.

When she stood up and wore her glasses, she realized something was wrong. Hermaphrodite's bed was empty and there was something in her gut telling her he was in trouble.

In a second, she was out of the door, running quickly. She had been running for three minutes already and she needed to catch her breath. That was when she heard the water flowing on the fountain and a thought went into her mind. What if…?

Running faster than before, she reached the clearing in time to see Hermaphrodite struggling to get his hands steady and not to try removing his clothes. She could also see a beautiful nymph waiting behind the tree, watching the guy intently with lust in her eyes. Oh good Lord. She realized what was happening.

She rushed to the scene as Salmacis went in front of the guy, ripping his clothes off like a hungry lion clawing at his prey, eager to eat him and that made her disgusted. The guy resisted and she knew she had to do something. She shouted, "Get off him!" and used her powers over water to separate Salmacis. A water barrier suddenly appeared in front of the nymph and pushed her, few meters away from the guy, straining her as she struggled.

Hermaphrodite was panting when she approached him; his shirt was barely covering his limbs and was threatening to fall any time now. So were his pants. Her worst nightmare happened. They started falling, every second a centimeter moved.

"No!" Charisse shouted.

His shirt was falling down and she knew if he wasn't covered anymore, what happened thousands of years ago will happen again. His legend will occur once again no matter what they do. He wouldn't be able to change his destiny like they originally planned.

In desperation, she used the waters to firmly hold his ripped shirts over his body, using her whole body and energy.

"Charisse," Hermaphrodite just said, shocked to see her. "You're… here."

"Yeah, I'm here," she just said.

"How did you…" he started as he consciously looked around him, probably wondering where the others were.

"I woke up and had this gut feeling you were in trouble." She glared at Salmacis before looking back at Hermaphrodite. "Guess I was right. And I'm alone. The others were still sleeping."

He sighed in relief. "I'm glad you're here. That was close. I thought she really got me again. Glad you came here in time." He smiled at her with that lovely smile of his.

"What are you doing here? Shouldn't you avoid it?" she asked.

He sighed and looked at her sadly. "That's the problem. I can't avoid it. I kept coming back here."

"Then I guess it's time you learn not to," she said and looked at Salmacis who was still struggling. "So… that's her."

"Yeah," Hermaphrodite said.

"I didn't expect her to be very beautiful," Charisse admitted. "How come you don't like her?"

"I don't like people throwing their selves at me like slaves." He smiled sadly. "Unfortunately, that happens a lot… until you came…" His voice suddenly turned to a whisper she didn't catch what he said.

"Can you repeat it? I didn't hear it properly." Charisse said but the guy just shook his head. "Never mind. We've got to get out of here." He was about to move and run away when excruciating pain suddenly filled the daughter of Poseidon's body.

She gasped in agony.

"Charisse!" Hermaphrodite exclaimed alarmingly.

The girl was sure of one thing, the pain was very unbearable. It was the worst pain she had ever experienced.

Hermaphrodite was beside her, concern filled his eyes as he gazed at her. "What's wrong? Are you alright?"

"I-I'm fine," she gritted her teeth to stop herself from screaming in pain.

"_Do not interfere,"_ old, ancient and raspy voices said, echoing the words. She looked around, searching for the source and realized she was just hearing it in her mind.

"_Let what happened thousands of years ago repeat itself." _The voice continued._ "Or else, you'll suffer!" _At that another fresh pain surged inside her making her scream.

"Charisse!" Hermaphrodite shouted. "What's happening?"

"T-The Fates," the girl said realizing what was happening. "They're torturing me. They said I shouldn't interfere and let what happened thousands of years ago repeat itself or else I'll suffer. But I won't let that happen. I promised that I would help you get out of this place and away from your destiny. Even if it means I have to die, I'll still do it."

"Charisse…" He softly said her name.

"I'm fine." She said and shouted again. She panted, breathing heavily and feeling sweat rolling down her face to the ground. She was having a hard time enduring the pain and controlling half of the waters separating a struggling Salmacis who was desperately trying to press her body to Hermaphrodite and the other half trying to make his clothes firmly pressed to his body.

She was losing energy, her life force seeping away as she grew weaker. She cursed and wished she spent most of her free time mastering the skill to make her stamina stronger when using demigod powers. She regretted she neglected it before, depending solely on her strength and brains.

Where were the others? Why were they still asleep? Percy would be able to help her hold up and the others would be able to stop Salmacis from clinging herself to Hermaphrodite and they would be able to bring him out of the fountain and give him fresh clothes and bring him away from this place.

Maybe the Fates were preventing them.

"_Do you still refuse?" _they asked in her mind.

"Yes, I still refuse for my friend to get stuck with a psycho nymph!" she shouted.

"_Then you shall suffer more until you agree_," The Fates said and waves of pain rippled all around her body and screamed. Her knees were starting to get weak and they fell on the ground. She saw that Hermaphrodite was back on the fountain; he was struggling but looked like it was the force of the Fates. She gathered her strength and stretched out her hands, controlling the waters.

"CHARISSE AGUILUZ!" she looked up as the soft voice that came from the sweet guy that had asked her if he could change his fate with determination, shouted. He never shouted.

She saw him perfectly clear in her glasses and she could see the hurt and pain all over his face. He was hurting because he could see her suffering because of him.

"Thank you," he started, back with his soft voice and thanks to her demigod hearing abilities, no matter how soft it was, she could still hear him clearly. "Thank you for encouraging me last night and for accepting me. I really had a great time with you. It's really unfortunate that our meeting was only brief, I wished I could talk to you more."

He stopped and she shouted angrily, "What are you saying? Why do you sound like you're saying goodbye to me? Like we're never going to meet again?" She still asked even if she already knew the answer. "No! You're not going to be stuck with her again. You'll be on your own. You'll be able to defy the Fates. With determination, you can get away with this. So please, don't give up! Please! Stand up from there. Leave the fountain before the Fates kill me!"

He shook his head. "It's hopeless, Charisse. I'll never get out of this fountain. Thank you for last night. It'll be my first time to be happy that I'll be doing this." He gave her that soft smile and she swore she could see tears falling down from his face and she felt her face was wet too. "Oh and by the way, I really hope you'll end up with my father. He really loves you, you know."

She ignored his last two sentences. "No, please," her voice was shaking. "We create our own destiny. We can change what was destined for us. With determination, you can get out of that fountain." She knew it was hopeless but she refused to give up. There must be a freaking way for him to not end up this way! There should be something! But there wasn't. She knew it but she just refused to accept it.

"Thank you Charisse. I'm glad that the gods gave me a second chance to see this world. Even just for a brief time. I get to meet the others and you. You showed me a whole new perspective in life. Defeat this new enemy arising for me okay? Make this strange occurrences stop. Promise me." He said, still crying.

"I promise," she said as tears continued flowing. Her whole body was on fire, she was using too much strength to keep this going on and it didn't add up to the fact that the Fates were torturing her. Even if she was stronger than any ordinary human being, her body wouldn't be able to keep up. Hermaphrodite must've sensed it.

He gave her a smile, so full of happiness and love, one last time before saying, "I'm sorry but I have to do this. I want you to know how glad I am that I met you. Thank you so much Charisse Aguiluz. Goodbye."

Then, before she knew it, he was ripping his clothes that still remained clinging to him, destroying the waters, making her lose her concentration and she closed her eyes, shouting, "No! Hermaphrodite!"

When she opened them, a split second later, the waters that were straining Salmacis disappeared and she pressed her naked body to Hermaphrodite and shouted, "Oh great gods! Please grant me my prayer! May he and I never be separated forever!"

Charisse was crying as she watched their bodies turning into one and caught one last smile from Hermaphrodite and his now colored blue eyes twinkling as a blinding white light appeared she was forced to close her eyes.

"_It was done,_" she heard the Fates said in her mind. "_We shall now take our leave." _

She remained her eyes closed, fearing what she might see. But her curiosity was overwhelming. When she opened them, they were gone and near the fountain, a very beautiful flower sprouted.

She was sobbing as she crawled towards it, forcing herself to go to the flower, no matter how exhausted she was, and drained she was for using all of her energy earlier; and how much pain she was experiencing. She cupped her hands over the gorgeous flower and let her tears drop on its petals. "I promise," she said, even if she knew in her mind he wouldn't hear her. "I'll defeat the new enemy arising. I'll retrieve all of the Olympians' weapons and stop this nonsense. I promise."

And then she noticed, as her tears reached its petals, it glistened, just like how Hermaphrodite's eyes sparkle. And that made her cry more- reminiscing everything that happened last night. If only she knew what was going to happen today, she would've told him that he shouldn't shun his beauty. That he could do everything as long as he persevered. That everything happens for a reason.

She didn't know what happened to her next. She only knew was that her body was aching everywhere and she wouldn't be surprised if she had any wounds or injuries or much worse, burns for using too much demigod power due to lack of training.

She cried and cried until no tears sprang out of her eyes. Screamed and screamed until her voice was hoarse and she could hardly speak. It really sucked when you lost a friend. It was much worse if you saw that friend be gone in front of you, facing another thousands of years stuck with a crazy girl whom he didn't love. It was also worse to know that you couldn't do anything to stop it.

She closed her eyes out of exhaustion, wishing these were all just a nightmare and by the time she opens them, everything was back to normal- even if she knew in the back of her mind that won't happen anymore.

Free will. Two words meaning freedom. We're free to choose our decisions. We're free to control our own destiny. That's true, only in the modern world, but not in the Greek World. The Fates control them all. Even the gods were powerless against them. Even with determination, no matter what you do, if it was meant to be, it would happen. Hector was right when he told his son, Scamandrios or Astyanax, "Destiny is a thing which no man can escape, neither coward nor brave man, from the day he is born."

Life isn't always happy endings, there'll always be tragedies. But what's important is that we make the most out of it and we learned something from it, which will either break us or make us stronger.

That's why Hermaphrodite welcomed his destiny with open arms because he had a great time with Charisse, he suddenly had this thought that maybe, it wasn't bad after all. That if it weren't for his stupid destiny and the power of the cave of dreams then he wouldn't meet such a strong girl like her who wouldn't throw herself at him for his beauty. And he learned something from her, it didn't matter who you are, what you are, where you're from- we're all normal human beings, we're all the same and as long as someone accepted you wholeheartedly, whose there for you, that's the best feeling in the world.

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><p><strong>I really hope you had a great time reading this chapter. :) And I hope you'll forgive me if you got annoyed at me for making Charisse and Hermaphrodite's plan fail. I hope you got the message I was conveying. <strong>

**Oh and please review! :) Thank you!**


	11. Back at Camp

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything!**

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><p><strong>Chapter 10 – Back at Camp<strong>

**Mao **

Maoriz "Mao" Gaza never had a demigod dream. Like _ever. _She was happy as much as she was sad about it. Sad for it meant she'll never go on a quest and she didn't have a significant role in saving the world kind of stuff like demigods were meant to do. And happy for it meant she'll never suffer nightmares, have eye bags and the thought that you have a responsibility to do and if you fail, the whole world will end.

Until now.

_When it first dawned into her, she was surprised. She expected to see an entire black space and sleep peacefully but she saw a different place. _

_Wherever she was, it was very breathtaking. The waters were so clear you could see the small fishes swimming around and a few small corals. There were hard edgy rocks around and she could hear the occasional sounds of the waves as it crashed on the white sandy shore. _

_She looked around and realized the place wasn't as beautiful as she thought. She saw hordes of monsters around the beach. They were so many it was the largest group of monsters she had ever seen in her life. All gathered as if there was some sort of sacrifice ritual. _

_And she was right. _

_At the end of the beach, many meters away from her but near enough for her to see it clearly, a big rock was standing tall above others. It was fifty meters above the roaring waves as if a giant monster will just come out of nowhere and grab whatever was on that rock. But that wasn't what disturbed her. She kept seeing flashes of purple around that rock, as if it was moving. _

_Since this was her dream, she willed herself to get closer to the rock. Her curiosity was overwhelming. She closed her eyes and felt her body move. By the time she moved them again, she was standing in the same big rock she was watching earlier. And what she saw shock her. _

_It was her friend, Charisse. She had a hard time recognizing her friend. She was thin- yes, thin- like she had only eaten little for five days. Her dark brown eyes were bloodshot and her glasses were nowhere in sight. Her light brown skin turned darker than she had last seen her and her usually pulled in a side ponytail black hair was a mess it almost resembled Bellatrix Lestrange's hair in Harry Potter when she just escaped Azkaban! And that wasn't good! _

"_Charisse!" she shrieked and immediately ran to her when she realized she was dreaming. This might just be a nightmare. Right, it was just a nightmare. Not a reality. Charisse will never skip a meal, much less a day without eating! Charisse wasn't that person who always went on diets and don't eat anything at all. Also her friend will never miss sleep. That girl seriously sleeps at least 8-9 hours a day!_

_Now convincing herself this was just a nightmare, she looked behind Charisse and saw she was chained on the rock itself and she was squirming, yelling and trying with all her strength to get out of it. _

"_SET ME FREE! LET ME GO!" she kept yelling as she kicked her legs and moved her arms even if she couldn't. _

_Mao also noticed that Charisse's voice was already hoarse like she was yelling nonstop for an hour and her wrists were already bleeding. It must've hurt a lot to even move. She was also wearing a flowing purple dress that reached her ankles. It kept on moving for the girl was trying to free herself. _

_She yelled again a cry of desperation; tears continued flowing down her skin. She was sobbing, hating that she couldn't do anything- that it was useless. _

_Mao couldn't take it anymore. She wanted to wake up already and forget this image of Charisse she saw. It was so horrible she couldn't bear it. Her heart was breaking for her friend. She didn't deserve to be in that situation. While the daughter of Poseidon was in misery, the monsters below were feeling the exact opposite. They were cheering, waiting patiently for something to come out. _

_Minutes later, thinking it was hopeless and that she couldn't get out of this dream until it was done, the daughter of Hermes just sat beside a chained Charisse who was still sobbing but stopped shouting and trying to free herself. Her wrists were bleeding, trailing blood on the rocks._

_Before she knew it, a giant sea serpent shot out of the sea and the monsters' cheer turned louder. And then the serpent's yellow eyes turned its gaze on Charisse, and Mao swore she saw hunger in them. _

_Time seemed to go slow as Mao watched horrified as the sea serpent opened its mouth and will eat her friend in one gulp. The daughter of Hermes didn't know what happen next but she knew she have to save her friend. She had no weapons and she only had herself. Oh well. It was crazy and it'll surely end her but she didn't care as long as her friend will be alright. Gathering her strength and before she could change her mind, she went in front of Charisse and the last thing Mao saw was a huge mouth with countless sharp teeth and then, pure darkness. _

She bolted upright on her bed and heard the snores of her bunkmates. Her vision was blurry and after a few seconds, everything became clearer. What was _that? _What the heck!

Scrambling out of the bed, combing her hair and wearing a t-shirt and pants, she went outside of her cabin and saw that it was very early morning the sky was still black.

A cold night breeze blew and she shivered involuntarily. Whenever she was thinking or feeling sad, she always walked around camp very early. The coldness of the night helped her to block some thoughts she didn't want to think about.

And right now, it was her dream.

She distracted herself into thinking about her friend. How was she now? What was she currently doing? Have they found the cave?

And then she laughed. Did Will finally tell Charisse he likes her? Probably not. The guy was very shy around the determined Filipina. It was so adorable~

How about Ross? If she remembered correctly, she heard some rumors that the son of Athena already confessed his love to the daughter of Zeus. Then there was a rumor going around that said before the guy could tell Sabina, they got interrupted. If that was true, then she should talk to Ross! She must convince him to IM (Iris Message) the girl so that they could finally get together!

Since when did she become a love expert? She didn't know. Crazy ideas just popped in and out of her mind so she couldn't be sure. Besides how could she be a love expert if she didn't even have a boyfriend?

No one at camp interested her, to be honest. Maybe she was being unrealistic, having high standards that would make her have a really hard time looking for him. No, it wasn't like that. It was because she didn't fall easily. It was how things work. She didn't know how demigods of Hermes had that kind of quality. Her dad wasn't exactly a faithful and loyal guy. And yet his kids had that characteristic. A fact you didn't know about the demigods of the messenger god- in love, they were like wolf, once they set their eyes in one person that was it. They would never love anyone else other than their 'mate'. Yes, that was why they didn't fall in love easily. They were 'hard to get' but once you succeed, the prize was rewarding. Imagine having someone loving you for the rest of their lives, no matter what happens? To the person, it was amazing. But to the demigods of Hermes who were like that, not really. It was crazy and dangerous at the same time. What if their 'mate' didn't feel the same way? Or loves somebody else? That would be a huge problem.

Luckily Mao hadn't found her special someone yet. She didn't have any plans to. She preferred it this way. Out of her siblings, she was closest to Will and seeing him happy and at the same time in despair scared her so much in this whole love-only-one-person-forever thingy. She remembered her conversation with him last week.

_She and her half-brother were running around camp. They were having a marathon competition that whoever ends up last will owe the other one fifty drachmas. They were both fast and very agile, wherever they pass bursts of air will blow around them. There was one time when she saw a group of Aphrodite girls wearing micro miniskirts near her tracks, she burst into full speed. And when she passed by their location, the wind was so strong those skirts went up and she was laughing as she ran, not caring for the fact those girls were cursing at her and one of them was trying to persuade her to come back. _

_She saw Will and ran towards him and she saw he was laughing. "That was amazing!" He yelled over the wind. _

"_Thanks bro!" she yelled back at him. It wasn't her fault that those Aphrodite girls were on the way and wearing such short clothes. Ugh, she really hate those girls. Mao was conservative, but not as Charisse, that was why the shortest clothes she could bear to wear was a tank top and a short, two inches above the knee, and that was it. She shook her head to interrupt her thoughts. Will was getting the upper hand because of her pondering. She focused at the task in hand. They should run around camp five times and the race will end in front of their cabin. _

_After a lot more minutes, they were running at the final lap and neither one of them was tired, both were determined to win the fifty drachmas. _

_Mao was hoping she would be able to win but it was hopeless. Will was faster than her. So she was hoping for the impossible. _

_As if on cue, Charisse with Katie Gardiner, the counselor of the Demeter cabin, came into view as she and Will were about to run to the finish line. They were simply walking while having a conversation about some stuff Mao couldn't hear that much since they were quite far from her. _

_She noticed Will, who was a few feet in front of her skid to a stop as he saw the two girls. The presence of her friend bothered him. Mao almost giggled. So that explained everything! Why didn't she notice it sooner? Her brother was in love with her friend! _

_She took this as a chance to dash in front of the Hermes cabin. Will immediately snapped out of his daze but it was too late. She had won. _

_Will angrily ran to her. "That's unfair and completely unjust!" he exclaimed at her. _

"_Chill bro," Mao said. "Don't worry I'm not going to get the fifty drachmas-" _

_The guy sighed in relief. _

"_-in one condition." Mao continued._

"_Ok, what do you want?" Will asked, up for the challenge. _

_The girl smiled. "Let's have a talk about your love life." _

_The next thing that happened was they were at the top of a hill, talking about a lot of things. _

"_So," Mao said. "You like my friend." _

"_Yeah." Will blushed and the daughter of Hermes thought it was cute and at the same time funny. This guy was head over heels in love!_

"_I'm surprised you didn't deny that," the girl continued. Most of the people's initial reaction when someone told them they like that person, they'll immediately deny it. This guy probably accepted it a long time ago. _

_Will gazed at the view below them- a wonderful meadow full of various kinds of flowers and lustrous green grasses. "Why bother denying it if I really feel that way?" _

"_True." Mao said and after a few seconds asked, "What do you like about Charisse? I'm not insulting my friend or anything, but isn't she not your usual type of girl?" Her friend was very different. She wasn't like any other. She wasn't the typical girl type, the one who always spends hours at the bathroom just to look beautiful nor a girl who loved sports. She didn't even bother that much on her appearance! And that was one of the reasons she chose her to be her friend. _

_Will said, "I like the way she looks at me, as if she's seeing my soul and who I really am. I like the way how she's always so determined and serious all the time. And when she glares at me with those fierce eyes of hers? It's so beautiful and deadly at the same time." He laughed and Mao could see the love and admiration in his eyes as he continued speaking. "I like the way she gets annoyed by my pranks. How she'll scream my name and demanded why I just did that. I like how she tries her best in everything and having strong principles and morals in life. And when she smiles, when the dimples below the right side of her lips shows up and another on her cheeks near her mouth, I really like it. It makes me want to do everything to make her smile like that. I even like the way she becomes like a child around foods, gushing how delicious it is or asking for another scoop- it's very cute. Yes, she's not the type you'll look twice at nor someone you'll define as 'hot'. She's not even someone who'll stand out in the crowd mainly by her looks. But I like her. I really do."_

_Mao was speechless. This, she tells you, was true love! "Wow. I don't know what to say." _

_Will just continued gazing at the horizon, probably thinking about her friend. _

"_So, how did you know she was the one?" The girl asked. "Like did you have an intuition or something?" _

"_You won't believe me when I tell you so I better just skip that question." Will said. _

"_Oh come on! You're making me curious. How did you know?" _

"_Skip." _

"_How did you know?" _

"_Fine. Promise you won't laugh." _

"_I promise." _

_The guy took a deep breath and said, "The minute I laid eyes on her, I just knew she was the One." _

_Mao laughed and immediately stopped. "Sorry, I can't help it! Do you honestly know how lame and cliché that sounds?" _

_Her half-bro glared at her. "Yes I do. Gods, this is the reason why I don't want to tell you!" _

"_I'm sorry ok?" the girl said. "It's just; you're like in a romantic movie having a theme of 'Love at first sight'. I mean come on, that's very ridiculous!" _

"_I know." He sighed. "Look, us demigods of Hermes, when it comes to love, we're like wolves. The moment we laid eyes on someone, there's a feeling inside you telling you 'This is it. That's her. She's the One'. And then, the next thing you know, as the two of you gets closer, you love her. She then becomes your 'mate'. You'll then love her for the rest of your life- one sided or not. So yeah, it sucks." _

"_I… I didn't know that," Mao admitted. "How come we have this? Our dad isn't exactly the faithful, loyal and stick-to-one type is he? Nor is he a god of wolves?" _

"_I don't know how we acquired this. Maybe Dad has this thing."_

"_If he has this thing, how come we are here? Not that I'm not happy being his kid."_

"_Maybe Dad hasn't found the One he'll love for eternity. Or maybe he did and is now making his move. I don't have any idea. There are a few myths about his love life, like Peitho or how he once tried to court Persephone. It would be better if we just drop it." _

"_So you mean I have this too?"_

"_Yeah every one of us does. Take Travis for example. Do you know why our cabin always pranks Demeter's?" _

"_No way." _

"_Yes way. He likes Katie. And we tend to show our love to someone by pranking them. It's just our ways." He winked at her. _

"_That explains everything. How come you know a lot about this?" _

"_When I was thirteen, Dad visited me and told me a lot of things." He said and then he muttered very softly. "IncludinghowIshouldstayawayfromher." _

"_Did you say something?" Mao asked. She swore she heard the guy mutter something. Will just grinned and said, "That's nothing. Anyway, our talk is over. I'm glad I get to keep my fifty drachmas. Let's go back." _

"_Ok." The girl said, unconvinced but decided to just drop the topic. _

_That late afternoon, a few minutes before the sun sets, Mao was sitting on a branch. She loved climbing trees and settling herself on its highest branch every time the sun was about to set. The view was breathtaking that was why she always took time and effort just to get up and down the tree. _

_And then suddenly, she heard sounds below and she saw a guy, the same age as hers with dark brown hair and pale skin. He was holding a thick book and Mao could see different ancient runes and symbols engraved on the cover. He sat on the ground and leaned to the exact tree where she was._

_She then realized it was Mark Goode, the half-American, half-Irish guy from Ireland and a son of Hecate. He was reading his book and looks really focused. He was really serious about this magic stuff. _

_Being a daughter of Hermes had its perks. She was updated about gossips and rumors at camp. Mark just came to camp a month ago and she could still hear rumors about him. The Aphrodite kids considered him as a target because of his good looks combined with his Irish accent despite of his height (he was only five feet and five inches, the same as Charisse). She had heard he was talented too. His power over magic easily enhanced he was currently studying advanced runes and spells. _

_Mao had heard rumors that Hecate's kids should master magic to prove themselves worthy and if they didn't, their magic will do more harm than good. No wonder they only come out of their cabin when they eat at the dining pavilion. _

_She was surprised to see him there. What was he doing here? Shouldn't he be like in his cabin practicing? _

_She was observing him too much the guy must've noticed and he suddenly looked up. Their eyes met and Mao swore his light brown eyes were very captivating and she could hear her heart beating loudly on her chest. _

_This was exactly what Will told her earlier on their talk. She instantly regretted laughing about it. It was no laughing matter once you experienced it. Realization dawned into her as she continued staring at the guy. _

_Oh gods. Was this what Will was talking about? Was he her 'mate'? _

"_What are you doing up there?" he asked in his Irish accent. Even if he had an accent Mao could still understand him perfectly. The way he pronounced words was very clear. Gods, his voice was amazing. She'd love to listen to it every day. _

_She just stared at him like an idiot. Come on Mao, don't be stupid! He was just a guy. Yeah, a guy who you'll love for the rest of your life. How great. _

_The sun started setting and its rays spread all around camp and Mao could see that Mark, under the sunlight made him look so handsome. But she didn't find him that handsome before. Well, not until she looked into his eyes that was. _

"_Hello?" he asked again. "Are you alright?" _

_She felt her heart was on her throat and she had hard time breathing. She lost her balance on the tree and fell. She cursed herself and closed her eyes, waiting to be smack on the ground but it didn't come. She opened one eye and realized her feet were one foot above the ground. Wait a minute, above the ground? She realized she was floating in mid air. _

_She looked questioningly at the guy and he just sighed in relief. _

"_Be careful next time miss. Not everyone can cast a spell immediately to save you." He said and offered his hand like a gentleman. _

_She took it and he softly guided her to the ground. _

"_Thanks," she said as she blushed slightly. She hoped she wasn't being too obvious. Suddenly being shy, she looked at the ground. _

"_Hi, I've been seeing you around here," Mark said. "You're Maoriz Gaza right? Daughter of Hermes?"_

"_Yeah, that's me," she said cheerily as she looked at him. "And you are Mark Goode. Son of Hecate I suppose." _

_He nodded. "By the way, what are you doing up there?" _

"_I just like to go there to watch the sunset every day. The view is breathtakingly amazing. You should try it sometime." She smiled at him and put a lock of black hair away from her face. _

_Ever since then Mao and Mark always meet on that tree and they eventually became friends. Silently, Mao was hoping they'll become more. _

The daughter of Hermes sighed. She missed the guy. He wasn't a year rounder that was why he wasn't here right now. This was why she loved summer. She got to see him and be with him. She hoped they'll become more than friends in the future.

Mao looked up and realized it was already dawn. Fifteen minutes more and the sun will rise. She didn't know why but she suddenly had this feeling she have to go to her favorite spot.

Running as fast as she could, she reached the tree which she dubbed as "where it all began" and was surprised to see a swirling smoke above it and before she knew it, she saw a familiar man fell and into the ground. But he casted a spell fast enough to land safely. He ran his fingers through his hair and sighed. "That worked well, I suppose." He muttered. "Now, where must she be? She's probably sleeping in her cabin. It's five in the morning in here. Curse time zones. I miscalculated the time when I'm going to travel. Of course I can't wake her up. Oh well. I'll just wait for the sun to rise and hope that she'll wake up and I'll be able to find her."

She was still shocked seeing him. She was unable to move and as she listened to his muttering she felt her heart feel warm. He was here to see her. Oh goodness! She was so happy she didn't care if she would die at this moment. But that couldn't be. She still needed to live to be with the guy she loves and have a family with him! She was getting too far ahead, she must say. For now she was so happy to see him in front of her.

"Mark!" she yelled and the man looked at her surprised at first but his eyes eventually softened and welcomed her into his lean arms. His familiar scent welcomed her and she inhaled it letting out a small sigh of relief. It did feel so good to be in his arms.

"Hey," he just said. Since he was five inches taller than her, he needed to bend down. For once, she wished she was taller. "I miss you."

"I miss you too," she replied. "I'm surprised to see you here. What was that?"

"Oh," he said, blushing slightly and she swore if this guy couldn't get any cuter. "Well mom gave me a new spell book and there was a particular spell which can travel around the world. I tried it and wished to go here and it did. It was really hard but I'm glad it worked. I'm now here with you."

"Yeah," she said, feeling contented.

"But," he started again that made her look at him. "This is only for a limited time and I still need to get back to Ireland-"

"I don't care," she whispered interrupting him. "I'm happy and contented enough that I can see you again even if it's for a short time."

She hugged him tighter. "Let's make your thirty minutes worth it."

They just stayed at the top of the tree, talking and laughing. She joked around him and also told him about the quest of Charisse and the others. She also told him about the complicated love story of her friend.

"I'm happy that ours is just simple," she said suddenly and immediately turned red. She slipped! Oh how she wish she would just crawl into a hole and die. They weren't even together! How could she say that?

"I-I need to go," she immediately said and was about to jumped down from the tree and ran away; Mark stopped her, grabbing her wrist.

She looked at him and she saw in his eyes and in his soft smile happiness. "Wait." He said with his lovely voice. "You don't have to leave. Just stay here with me till my time is up."

She nodded and settled once again comfortably beside him. They both looked at the horizon and watched as the sun rose up. While looking, her heart was beating loudly and she was having hard time breathing. Their hands were so close to each other she was going to hyperventilate!

Before she knew it, seconds later, she felt a strong hand gripped her own and laced his fingers to her. She swore she was really going to die for not breathing properly! She looked at him and saw him smile at her. He then said, "I like you, Mao."

She suddenly felt the urge to shout happily because of what he told her. Gods, she could really die at this moment! It was too surreal to be true! But it is real. He liked her! Gods, thank you! He felt the same way. She was the happiest woman in the world!

"I like you too, Mark." She whispered and with the sun rising, they shared a moment that will last forever.

* * *

><p><strong>Unknown<strong>

She was standing not too far away from the lovebirds watching them. She smiled an evil one showing perfectly white teeth and the beauty of her plump rosy red lips. "Enjoy your moment daughter of Hermes and son of Hecate while it still last. Soon, very soon, you'll face a lot of obstacles and death will tear you apart." She said in a silky voice and twirled locks of her golden hair before turning her back. "It's really unfortunate that you're friends with that cursed daughter of Poseidon. And no one who has a relationship with her, family or friend, will ever be happy."

She gracefully walked to the forest and suddenly disappeared, leaving behind a fragrance that was drifted into the wind.

* * *

><p><strong>Hi! Sorry if this chapter's quite boring. I decided to have a little focus on the other couples in this story and Mao and Mark will play a huge role in the future. So yeah. Anyway, hope you like it! ^^ <strong>


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